Following Roe v. Wade reversal, clinics plan to move to New Mexico
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Women’s clinics in Mississippi and Texas say they are moving to New Mexico, following abortion bans taking effect in their states.
Mississippi began enforcing its abortion ban Thursday, outlawing almost all procedures. The only exceptions are cases of rape that have been reported to police and cases that threaten the life of the mother.
The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, also known as the Pink House, closed its doors Wednesday night, after a judge denied an injunction to stop the ban. Now, the only women’s clinic in Mississippi plans to open the Pink House West.
They are not the only ones calling New Mexico a “safe haven.” Whole Woman’s Health in Texas also announced it is moving to New Mexico.
“There’s no reason we should have these ‘two different America’s’ that emerged, that some people have access to safe, compassionate abortion care legally in their communities, and other people are forced to travel hundreds of miles,” said CEO Amy Hagstrom.
The independent abortion provider said it is currently looking at a clinic site near the Texas-New Mexico border.
With abortion still legal New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other state leaders said they expected this.
“Like my colleagues, we are seeing an increase, and we are working diligently to make sure that when we say and we mean that abortion is legal, safe and accessible, that in fact it is,” she said during a conference with other state governors and the President on July 1. “We are in fact that brick wall against this horrific supreme court decision.”
New Mexico’s governor recently signed an executive order adding protections for patients and providers who are being criminally investigated for abortion in other states.
“We will not cooperate as a state in any of those efforts or investigations, we will not extradite, we will provide coverage and protection for all the providers and any individual seeking abortion care and abortion services in the state of New Mexico,” she said.