Pastor presents sanctuary resolution

CLOVIS — A local pastor wants the city of Clovis to follow a path established for gun rights, but to instead adopt a resolution that would make Clovis a “sanctuary for the unborn.”

Farril DeFoor, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church, addressed the Clovis city commission Thursday night. He brought a resolution passed by the Roswell City Council on March 14 that recognized fetal life with hopes the commission would consider it for a future meeting.

Dozens of counties adopted resolutions touting themselves as “Second Amendment sanctuary” counties in response to new state laws on background checks and affirming their sheriff’s rights to “not enforce any unconstitutional firearms law against any citizen.”

The resolution passed 7-1 by the Roswell council was adopted in response to future legislation on abortion rights.

House Bill 51, which died in the Senate during the recent state legislative session, had three components — elimination of a decades-old abortion ban rendered unenforceable since the Roe v. Wade decision, a legal definition of “justified medical termination” and elimination of a section of law that allowed hospitals and medical personnel to forgo participating in an abortion for moral or religious objections.

DeFoor said that despite the failure of HB51, New Mexico was one of the top states protecting the practice of abortion and noted Medicaid covers abortions for some citizens.

According to Resolution 19-28, the Roswell City Council declared that “innocent human life, including fetal life, must always be protected and that Society must protect those who cannot protect themselves,” and that the council opposes any reduction on abortion limitations and honors the rights of healthcare providers to object on moral or religious grounds.

The resolution is symbolic, and would not supersede any state law.

Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer said she hadn’t seen the resolution, and wasn’t sure exactly what approving it would mean for the city. DeFoor distributed a copy of the Roswell resolution for city staff.

Elliott appreciated an effort to make a statement, as he believed abortion at any stage was “basically a murder,” but Commissioner Rube Render wasn’t sure if it was a good use of the commission’s time.

“I am foursquare against abortion,” Render said. “However, I believe the Senate has solved that problem for this year. As hard as they got slam-dunked, they will think about it long and hard before they bring it back again. We need to consider how many things we’re a sanctuary from. I am considering declaring myself a sanctuary citizen so the (police) chief can’t arrest me for anything.”