{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pearce.house.gov/press-release/judge-rules-move-lawsuit-against-swwo-forward", "JUDGE RULES TO MOVE LAWSUIT AGAINST SWWO FORWARD", "2017-10-23", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "NM", "Steve Pearce", "P000588", "pearce.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Albuquerque, NM (October 20, 2017) Last week, Albuquerque District Judge Clay Campbell ruled against a motion filed by Curtis Boyd, owner of Southwestern Women\u2019s Options (SWWO), to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Albuquerque woman, Jessica Duran, which includes the unauthorized harvesting of her infant\u2019s body parts for research at the University of New Mexico (UNM). This ruling will move Duran\u2019s lawsuit forward to a trial by jury.\n\u201cNew Mexico itself has been struggling to uphold the law since an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Panel on Infant Lives raised serious concerns of ethical and legal violations by the University of New Mexico and the Southwestern Women\u2019s Options. The Panel sent two criminal referrals to the New Mexico Attorney General based on the findings of their investigation. Attorney General Hector Balderas refused to take action,\u201d stated Rep. Pearce. \u201cDistrict Judge Campbell\u2019s decision in this case allows for justice to prevail for the women and unborn children who were affected by these deceiving practices. Human life must be valued, and this decision takes a necessary step toward ensuring human life and the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves are protected.\u201d\nBackground  \n\tThe House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives was tasked with discovering information on the medical practices of abortion service providers and procurement practices of organizations who sell baby body part across the nation.\u00a0 Of the 15 criminal referrals, 2 of them were sent to the New Mexico Attorney General's Office. The final report released by the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives can be found here.\nOn April 20, 2017, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas stated his office was taking further action to consider the legal violations uncovered at the University of New Mexico, yet no action was taken.\nOn September 5, 2017, Rep. Pearce sent a letter to the United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request an investigation into the wrongdoings between the University of New Mexico Health Service Center (UNMHSC) and Southwestern Women\u2019s Options (SWWO). A PDF of the letter can be found here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://pearce.house.gov/press-release/judge-rules-move-lawsuit-against-swwo-forward"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.042413990944624, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}