The political strategist for the re-election campaign of New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez (R) reportedly confronted on Saturday a group of pro-life demonstrators in Albuquerque by lashing out, “You are all pieces of shit!”
Several members of the pro-life organization Protest ABQ identified the individual rebuking them with vulgar language as Jay McCleskey, chief political strategist for Martinez, who is seeking a second term as New Mexico’s governor.
Writing at Operation Rescue, pro-life activist Tara Shaver, who is pregnant herself, wrote, “The pro-life community has been asking Gov. Martinez what she is willing to do to stop pre-born child killing in New Mexico.”
“We have been completely ignored until today,” said Shaver, who was at the Protest ABQ public awareness campaign with her husband and children when McCleskey lashed out.
The pro-life community in Albuquerque continues to expose Martinez’s apparently inconsistent position on abortion. While Martinez claims to be pro-life, she has not addressed the fact that abortion remains unrestricted through all nine months of pregnancy in New Mexico.
Regarding the reported profanity launched at the pro-life demonstrators, Father Stephen Imbarrato, director of Protest ABQ, said, “The group Mr. McCleskey lashed out at today included pro-life families and children. Is this what Governor Susana Martinez’s campaign really thinks of pro-lifers?”
“Could these even be her true feelings about New Mexico families and children who stand up against abortion?” Imbarrato asked. “I think Mr. McCleskey may have possibly explained to everyone today why Governor Martinez has been so silent about pre-born child killing and has done nothing about it during her tenure as Governor!
“I think an explanation and an apology by the Governor is in order,” Imbarrato asserted.
Shaver told Breitbart News that Protest ABQ does several public awareness events, including a weekly neighborhood awareness protest all throughout the city to educate the public about abortion.
“When we go into neighborhoods, we walk throughout the neighborhood; we don’t focus on just one residence,” she said in response to a representative from Martinez’s office who claimed the pro-life demonstrators were protesting at McCleskey’s home.
“Governor Martinez is well aware of the fact that her campaign manager Jay McCleskey degraded members of Protest ABQ, which includes women and families with small children, but has yet to publicly denounce his actions or issue a formal apology,” Shaver said. “Mr. McCleskey has proven publicly that his mindset is not one of valuing humans but of dehumanizing those whose actions and opinions he disagrees with by calling them ‘Pieces of S***.'”
“Preborn human beings are already dehumanized every day in the womb, resulting in their violent death by abortion,” Shaver added. “Protest ABQ is peacefully and lawfully making a public stand on behalf of pre-born children and simply requests that Governor Martinez use her authority to protect these children.”
Similarly, Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, said:
Gov. Martinez was elected because she told voters she held a pro-life position. Now, with another election coming up, citizens have every right to hold her accountable on the issue of life, especially since she has taken absolutely no action on that front in the past four years.
Verbally abusing those who are exposing her abysmal record on life issues is completely wrong. We join with Protest ABQ in calling on Gov. Martinez to issue an apology to those individuals and families who were subjected to McCleskey’s profane tirade and, more importantly, start taking meaningful action to protect the lives of children endangered by New Mexico’s unaccountable abortion industry.
Breitbart News reached out to Gov. Martinez’s office for comment but received no response.
Albuquerque’s Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which would have banned abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy, was defeated last November, despite a grassroots initiative that garnered 27,000 signatures from Albuquerque voters.
As Breitbart News reported at the end of October, the main group opposing the ordinance was found to be an affiliate of President Barack Obama’s Organizing for Action (OFA).
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