Whole Woman’s Health’s New Mexico clinic sets initial goal of 75 abortions a week

Currently offers first-and second-trimester abortions up to 18 weeks “with plans to expand to up to 24 weeks in the near future”

By Dave Andrusko

New Mexico is about as supportive of abortion on demand as you can get. This is not surprising since pro-abortion Democrats  control both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office.

However some counties and cities have fought back. “Two counties and three cities in eastern New Mexico have recently adopted abortion restrictions that reflect deep-seated opposition to offering the procedure,” Morgan Lee writes for the Associated Press.

That prompted the passage of HB7, intended not only to override the ordinances but also stop others from passing similar pro-life protections. “Sponsored by state Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, the legislation is supposed to protect ‘access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care’ by prohibiting school boards, city councils and other local governments from discriminating against people based on their ‘reproductive’ choices,” according to Micaiah Bilger.

This goes hand in glove with the announcement by Whole Woman’s Health, one of the largest independent abortion providers in the nation which has operated in Texas since 2003, that they pulling up stakes.

Whole Woman’s Health opened its first Texas clinic in Austin in 2003 “and later expanded to four abortion clinics– Austin, McAllen, Forth Worth, and McKinney–before it announced plans to leave the state and reopen in New Mexico,” Evan MacDonald reported for the Houston Chronicle. On Thursday they opened their new clinic in Albuquerque.

“The clinic is expected to see 19 patients over the next few days, with 18 of them coming from Texas,” MacDonald wrote. “The clinic currently offers first- and second-trimester abortion procedures to people who are up to 18 weeks pregnant, with plans to expand to up to 24 weeks in the near future.”

Axios’s Shafaq Patel reported that “The starting goal is to serve 75 patients a week.”

Leaving no stone unturned, “The New Mexico clinic is located minutes from the Albuquerque International Sunport Airport and all of its staff members are bilingual,” according to a news release. “The new abortion clinic in Albuquerque will serve New Mexico residents, plus folks from other states, like Texas and Oklahoma.”

According to Patel, “The fully bilingual clinic staff aims to create an environment that helps patients shed personal and cultural shame and stigma around abortion care.” She added, “Whole Woman’s Health chose Albuquerque because it’s in a safe state and is easy to fly into.”

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the president and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health,  “says she chose a city over a small border town so patients and staff could be in a more populated area where they could blend in,” according to Patel. “23 patients — 21 traveling from Texas and two from Louisiana — have already booked appointments for the opening weekend.”