Gov. Michele Lujan Grisham broke ground Sept. 10 on a new reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico as the state struggles to care for an increasing number of patients from other parts of the country where access to abortion is limited.
The Las Cruces clinic is scheduled to open in 18 months and will provide a spectrum of reproductive health care and services, including medical and procedural abortions, contraception, cervical cancer screenings as well as education about adoptions, the Associated Press reported. The new health center is a partnership between the state, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, and the University of New Mexico.
Two years ago, Gov. Lujan Grisham signed an executive order securing $10 million in state funding to establish a clinic in Doña Ana County. The order recognized the community as “underserved” in reproductive health care and overburdened by incoming patients from states such as Texas, where abortion is banned with very little exception.
In 2021, lawmakers in New Mexico repealed an unenforced 1969 statute that made most abortion procedures illegal in preparation for a potential overturn of federal abortion rights. After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, states were left to decide the legal status of abortion, leading some states to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure altogether. One such state is neighboring Texas, where abortion has been banned with very little exception.
More than 14,200 patients from Texas have come to New Mexico seeking an abortion, a study by the Guttmacher Institute shows. That’s comparable to the number of Texan patients that Kansas, Colorado and California have received collectively.
New Mexico is also receiving patients from Arizona and Oklahoma, according to the study, though in much fewer numbers, totaling 400.
The Republican Party of New Mexico released a statement shortly after the groundbreaking condemning the governor for using taxpayer dollars to promote what they called “abortion tourism” for out-of-state residents.
“Access to reproductive health care should be a fundamental human right,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Once completed, this clinic will stand as a testament to our state’s commitment to reproductive freedom for residents of New Mexico, and also those who travel here from out-of-state in need of this care.”
