Keep abortion accessible in NM

AS A family medicine physician providing communitybased care in rural New Mexico, I am devastated by the Supreme Court’s decision to eviscerate the legal framework for abortion access in our country. This decision has enormous implications for the patients I am proud to provide care for, their families and our community at large. Though abortion will remain legal in New Mexico, will it be accessible?

As discussed in “Roe v. Wade reversal may affect NM health care” (Sunday Journal, June 26), our state has already seen an influx of patients from out of state, already leading to delays in care. This pushes abortion access further away for the most vulnerable in our state: people with low incomes, those living in rural communities and people of color. These are also communities that are limited by the Hyde Amendment (which bars use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman or in cases of incest or rape) as they’re unable to receive abortion care in their local clinics or hospitals.

Overturning Roe was never about safety or about health care, it was instead about the coercion and control of people’s bodies, families and futures. New Mexico will continue to protect patients and families, but we also must do all in our power to make abortion accessible across the state, no matter someone’s income or where they live. I call on members of Congress to pass the EACH Act, reversing the Hyde Amendment to allow opportunity for abortion care at federal hospitals, as long as the communities therein agree.

Eliminating Hyde will remove unnecessary barriers to essential health care. I call on the New Mexico state Legislature to protect the right to abortion in the state’s Constitution so generations of New Mexicans will have their reproductive rights protected. REBECCA SIMON

Zuni