SANTA FE, NM (AP) — Construction has begun on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico. The clinic will serve both area residents and newcomers from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma, where abortion is heavily restricted, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday.
Construction of the clinic will be funded with $10 million in state funds allocated by the governor through a 2022 executive order. New Mexico has one of the most liberal abortion laws in the country.
Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democrat who cannot run for re-election in 2026, reiterated her commitment to strengthening abortion access following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked universal access to abortion.
“Access to reproductive health care should be a basic human right,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “When completed, this clinic will be a testament to our state’s commitment to reproductive freedom for New Mexicans, but also for those who come here from outside the state and need this care.”
New Mexico is one of a number of Democratic-led states from California to New Jersey that are pushing to improve abortion services and abortion protections.
New Jersey last year gave $15 million in interest-free loans and grants to health care facilities that provide abortion services to improve facilities and boost safety. In 2022, California lawmakers approved $200 million in recent spending to bolster the state’s already resilient abortion protections.
The announcement by the New Mexico governor puts public abortion policy back in the spotlight ahead of the general election in November. In the statewide election, Democrats will face the task of defending their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Republican candidates for a U.S. Senate seat and a swing district in southern New Mexico have said they will not support a federal abortion ban, while Democratic-backed political ads suggest more federal restrictions could be on the way.
In 2021, New Mexico state lawmakers repealed a dormant 1969 law that banned most abortion procedures as crimes and ensured access. But anti-abortion sentiment runs deep in New Mexico communities along the Texas border, which has one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.
Several cities and counties in New Mexico have passed ordinances banning abortion, but they are currently on hold while the state Supreme Court decides whether local governments have the right to support federal restrictions on abortion, a 19th-century U.S. law that prohibits the mail-order delivery of abortion drugs and supplies.
It was unclear when the recent clinic in Las Cruces would open. It would offer services ranging from medication and procedural abortions to contraception, cervical cancer screenings and adoption education.
