Construction has started on a new reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico, as announced by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The clinic, funded by the state with $10 million allocated under a 2022 executive order, aims to provide services to local residents and individuals from neighboring states like Texas and Oklahoma facing significant abortion restrictions. Governor Lujan Grisham emphasized the importance of ensuring access to reproductive healthcare as a fundamental human right, particularly after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
New Mexico, known for having one of the most liberal abortion-access laws in the country, joins other Democratic-led states such as California and New Jersey in supporting efforts to strengthen abortion services and protections. Last year, New Jersey allocated $15 million in loans and grants to healthcare facilities offering abortion services, while California legislators approved $200 million to enhance the state’s existing abortion protections.
The governor’s initiative in New Mexico has reinvigorated the abortion policy debate ahead of the upcoming general election, where Democrats are aiming to maintain their majorities in the state House and Senate. In New Mexico, a 1969 statute criminalizing most abortion procedures was repealed in 2021 to safeguard access. However, pockets of opposition to abortion persist in communities along the Texas border, which has one of the most stringent abortion bans in the nation.
Although it remains uncertain when the new clinic in Las Cruces will begin providing services like medical and procedural abortions, contraception, cervical cancer screenings, and adoption education, its establishment underscores New Mexico’s commitment to reproductive freedom for residents and out-of-state individuals seeking care. The state Supreme Court is reviewing abortion-ban ordinances approved by several New Mexico cities and counties, questioning their alignment with federal abortion restrictions.
