On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) argued that her attempt to use a public health emergency to ban people from carrying guns for 30 days is different from a Republican governor doing the same thing to enact an abortion ban without the legislature approving it because “this is about protecting everyone’s rights. The Republican governor is about restricting some rights.”
Co-host Poppy Harlow asked, “Let me just ask you one final question about executive power. That’s a big thing you’re testing here, too. Are you overreaching? Let me give you a hypothetical. You’re a Democratic Governor who is doing this. What if a Republican governor of a state declares a health emergency and unilaterally outlaws abortion in that state, where the legislature has not done so by statute? Following your logic, would that also be sound?”
Lujan Grisham responded, “In this situation, honestly, I don’t think so. But that is what’s happening in this country, is that we’ve got extremists on this question and on reproductive rights. And the issue about the emergency order, the difference here is, I had an 11-year-old that was shot and killed with 17 rounds in a road rage. I got a call from a surgeon whose husband was killed in the exact same way in Albuquerque. Violence is growing. Every single investment and strategy, including a bold call to action, has failed. And here, this is about protecting everyone’s rights. The Republican governor is about restricting some rights. And I think we’re going to see these challenges across the country, but I’m going to stand up for the children and I’m going to stand up for public safety in Albuquerque.”
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