Since Roe V. Wade was overturned, many of New Mexico’s neighboring states have made it harder for women to find abortion access. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, lawmakers passed bills that would protect both abortion providers and patients. Many people have been crossing state lines just to get an abortion.

The Guttmacher Institute has been tracking abortion numbers in every state since 2020, and they also track where the women getting abortions are coming from.

“New Mexico is a very safe state for abortion, which I’m very thankful for,” said Rosa Ulibarri, a surgical assistant at the Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization.

Ulibarri’s clinic opened its doors in 2022 after Roe V. Wade was overturned.

“Our clinic used to be located in Jackson, Mississippi when they overturned Roe v. Wade, and it couldn’t do them in Mississippi anymore. They moved the clinic here to service people in Texas,” Ulibarri said.

In 2023, the Guttmacher Institute estimated 21,000 abortions were performed in New Mexico clinics. More than 14,000 of those patients came from Texas.

“We kind of have a running joke here in the clinic that we just always asked patients like, ‘And where from Texas are you coming from?’ And when somebody’s like, ‘Oh, I’m actually from here in town.’ We’re always like, oh, really? OK. Like 90% of our patients are from Texas,” Ulibarri said.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, abortions in New Mexico have surged by over 250% since 2022. Ulibarri says she’s not surprised by that number.

“How could we not see this coming, if the entire state of Texas is going to have these restrictions?” Ulibarri said. “Then, how do we not expect a woman to come get care here in the next closest state? So, I’m not surprised at all that this is happening.”

In 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had a similar idea as the Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization and allocated $10 million to build a reproductive health clinic in Las Cruces. Just last month, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents approved a land purchase to start building that clinic.