Texas abortion provider seeks New Mexico move

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One of the largest abortion providers in Texas is planning to move its operations to New Mexico, and another provider that offers tele-health services related to abortion and reproductive health care is expanding its footprint in the state.

Austin-based Whole Woman’s Health began winding down its Texas operations after a ruling Friday by the Texas Supreme Court forced an end to abortions in that state. Now, the provider wants to establish a new clinic in a New Mexico city near the state line to provide first- and second-trimester abortions.

Home to a Democratic-led Legislature and governor, New Mexico recently took an extra step to protect providers and patients from out-of-state prosecutions. It’s likely to continue to experience a steady influx of people seeking abortions from neighboring states with more restrictive abortion laws.

Whole Woman’s Health has started a fundraising effort to help with the costs of moving and for the purchase of a building to serve as its new home.

“With the shuttering of our four Texas clinics, we do not have the financial reserves to open in New Mexico without community support,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, said in a statement.

New Mexico lawmakers last year repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, thus ensuring access to abortion even after the federal court rolled back guarantees.

The state’s largest city, Albuquerque, is home to one of only a few independent clinics in the country that perform abortions in the third trimester without conditions.

An abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is just a mile from the state line with Texas near El Paso.