UNITED STATES: In anticipation of a rise in the number of abortion seekers from neighbouring states where the procedure is outlawed, New Mexico plans to construct a new abortion facility close to the Texas border.
A new clinic in Doa Ana County, which borders Texas’ westernmost tip, will receive $10 million from the executive capital budget. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is governor of New Mexico, will be allocating funds for the 2023 legislative session.
As a result of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling being overturned by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion, New Mexico has legalised abortion, whereas its neighbours, Texas and Oklahoma, have banned it with few exceptions at all stages of pregnancy.
In a statement released, Lujan Grisham stated, “As more states move to restrict and prohibit access to reproductive care, New Mexico will continue to not only protect access to abortion but to expand and strengthen reproductive health care throughout the state,”
Earlier this year, Lujan Grisham also issued an executive order prohibiting state departments and agencies from cooperating with investigations or lawsuits brought by other states that attempt to prosecute or convict anyone for providing, requesting, or aiding with abortions.
The orders also restrict the governor’s offices’ ability to extradite anyone to or from New Mexico if they are accused of obtaining, providing, or aiding in an abortion that is permitted in their home state and is wanted for prosecution in another state.
In recent months, abortion facilities in other states have shut down and relocated to New Mexico. The “Pink House,” also known as the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, closed its Mississippi location and established a new facility in Las Cruces, also in Doa Ana County.
In July, Whole Woman’s Health, the biggest independent abortion provider in Texas, likewise shut down its four Texas locations and started looking for a new location in a border city in New Mexico.
Also Read: Kansas Voters Rejects Abortion Amendment, Decides to Keep Abortion Legal in the State
