{"id":32048,"date":"2023-08-29T09:07:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/after-roe-v-wade-the-fight-over-abortion-access-moves-to-new-mexico\/"},"modified":"2023-08-29T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T15:07:07","slug":"after-roe-v-wade-the-fight-over-abortion-access-moves-to-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/after-roe-v-wade-the-fight-over-abortion-access-moves-to-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"After Roe v. Wade, the fight over abortion access moves to New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains billboard welcomes motorists to New Mexico on Interstate 40 near the Arizona border. As more states pass abortion bans, providers and patients have flocked to New Mexico, a sanctuary for abortion rights. (Noel Lyn Smith\/News21 via AP)<\/span>Noel Lyn Smith<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CLOVIS, N.M. \u2013 The sanctuary in Grace Covenant Reformed Church was packed.<\/p>\n

People stood shoulder to shoulder wherever they could \u2013 near the stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible, behind the neatly lined rows of chairs that serve as pews, against a wall covered in crosses made from painted wood, wire, glass and ceramic red chiles.<\/p>\n

Bibles and hymnals rested under every seat, but they weren\u2019t used that Monday night last September. There was no sermon, because this wasn\u2019t a church service.<\/p>\n

Residents of Clovis, a town of some 40,000 people a mere 20-minute drive to the Texas state line, crammed into this little brick building that night to discuss a plan of action to ban abortion.<\/p>\n

Just three months earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that had legalized abortion in the U.S. for almost 50 years.<\/p>\n

As trigger laws banning the procedure began going into effect across the nation \u2013 in places including neighboring Texas \u2013 abortion providers took up residence in New Mexico, which has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the laws in this country change before our very eyes,\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said on the day Roe was reversed, \u201cI will continue to fight for the right to a safe, legal abortion in New Mexico and stand as a brick wall against those who seek to punish women and their doctors just because they seek the care they need and deserve.\u201d In the year since Dobbs, New Mexico has been a brick wall and a safe haven \u2013 for those who provide abortions and those who desire or need them.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also become something else: a new battleground in the fight over access to abortion in this country, with smaller towns and bigger cities \u2013 and American versus American \u2013 warring against one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gained a lot of ground with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but now it\u2019s at the state level,\u201d said Logan Brown, a science teacher from Portales, New Mexico, who helped organize the September church gathering. He\u2019s a self-proclaimed abortion abolitionist, intent on outlawing abortion at all stages, for any reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow,\u201d Brown said, \u201cinstead of one battlefield, it\u2019s 50 battlefields.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Rev. Erika Ferguson is pictured at her home in Dallas on June 17, 2023. Ferguson has helped over 250 women receive legal abortions in New Mexico through a network that transports mostly women of color from Texas. (April Michelle Pierdant\/News21)<\/span>April Michelle Pierdant<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
\u2018This is about your freedom\u2019<\/div>\n

The Rev. Erika Ferguson doesn\u2019t scare easily.<\/p>\n

After spending 30 years working in reproductive justice, she isn\u2019t afraid of protesters outside of abortion clinics. The Dallas pastor and fierce advocate for abortion rights has become accustomed to the deafening screams from opposing voices and learned to block it all out.<\/p>\n

Ferguson doesn\u2019t fear the red and blue police lights and sirens that could await her arrival on the tarmac each time she returns to Texas from a trip to New Mexico. Or the police with their handcuffs ready to be wrapped around her wrists. Ridicule, opposition and the possibility of arrest \u2013 or worse \u2013 are all risks Ferguson regularly dances with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not afraid. I\u2019m not afraid at all,\u201d she said in an interview with News21. \u201cThere\u2019s no great movement without risk and sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson has helped over 250 women receive legal abortions in New Mexico through a network that transports mostly women of color from abortion-restricted Texas every week.<\/p>\n

Her work started in 2021 after Texas passed Senate Bill 8, which banned abortion at around six weeks \u2013 before many know they are pregnant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy prime directive as a person of faith is to care for those that need care, is to accompany those that have no one to support them,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat else is a minister supposed to be doing except offering care, support and comfort to whoever for whatever?\u201d<\/p>\n

The women she works with aren\u2019t the only ones seeking care in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

From July 2022 through April 2023, New Mexico\u2019s five Planned Parenthood clinics recorded 2,749 appointments \u2013 a 97% increase from the 10-month period before the Texas ban was in place.<\/p>\n

Post-Roe, 57% of Planned Parenthood patients in New Mexico are from Texas, according to the agency, with others coming from Oklahoma, Arizona and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not by accident,\u201d Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said in an emailed statement. \u201cHomegrown reproductive justice groups have been organizing on the ground for decades to ensure New Mexico maintains the right to self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite those efforts, the sudden and massive increase in abortion-seekers was not something New Mexico was necessarily prepared for, said Dr. Eve Espey, chair of the OB-GYN department at the University of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

When the need for abortion care first began increasing, clinics adjusted scheduling and staffing, expanded telehealth capabilities, and extended hours, Espey said. This was helpful in accommodating not only clinical care but mental health concerns and logistical issues like helping patients with transportation, child care and funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can handle the numbers that are coming in, but we know that we\u2019re seeing the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Espey said. \u201cWe know that we\u2019re only seeing the patients who have the means or who have the health literacy, who have connections, internet skills and all of the things that are required to come sometimes 14 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after the passage of SB 8, Ferguson took her first trip to New Mexico with 25 women. She got her inspiration from a late-night text message she received from a 16-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow am I going to get out of the state to get an abortion? I can\u2019t even figure out how to get a bus across town,\u201d the teen wrote.<\/p>\n

Ferguson replied with five words: \u201cDon\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll help you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t know what I was saying, but I knew that I was going to help her, just like people helped me,\u201d said Ferguson, who had two abortions when she was 16 and 18 and remembers being treated with dignity and respect.<\/p>\n

SB 8 allows private citizens to bring civil actions against those who help people get abortions in Texas, but advocates who provide funding or assistance to send people out of state have feared the law could be used against them, too. For that reason, Ferguson takes extra precautions. In New Mexico, before each group of patients boards the return flight home, she says her goodbyes and warns them to do nothing if they see law enforcement or signs of trouble back in Texas.<\/p>\n

Once they exit the plane, Ferguson never sees the women again. But they leave with lifelong community, dignity and hope, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018No matter what you see, I want you to keep walking,\u2019\u201d she tells them, \u2018\u201d because this is about your freedom.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just people streaming into New Mexico. Abortion clinics unable to operate in restrictive states have sought refuge in the Land of Enchantment.<\/p>\n

The Mississippi clinic at the center of Dobbs v. Jackson relocated to Las Cruces, in the southern part of the state. It\u2019s now called Pink House West. And Whole Woman\u2019s Health, which had multiple locations in Texas, has moved to Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

But as the state became a sanctuary for the abortion rights movement, those on the other side watched with worry and downright disgust. Then they took action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has happened in New Mexico is that they\u2019ve set up these laws and have given carte blanche for all of these profiteering abortion businesses to come to New Mexico, if they\u2019re not already here,\u201d said Elisa Martinez, founder of New Mexico Alliance for Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn these outlying rural communities of New Mexico \u2026 these are not our values,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge disconnect between the policies that are being shoved down our throats by these politicians and what people actually believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Logan
Logan Brown, a self-proclaimed abortion abolitionist and member of Grace Covenant Reformed Church, in Clovis, N.M., talks on June 26, 2023, about efforts across the state to pass local ordinances to prohibit abortion. As more states pass abortion bans, providers and patients have flocked to New Mexico, a sanctuary for abortion rights. The anti-abortion movement has followed. (Cassidey Kavathas\/News21 via AP)<\/span>Cassidey Kavathas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A fight over \u2018sanctuary\u2019<\/p>\n

Clovis is known for three things: farming, ranching and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. It\u2019s home to the Norman Petty Studios, where Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison once recorded. The area\u2019s fertile land produces grain and other crops, from potatoes to pumpkins.<\/p>\n

There is no abortion provider in the community. Some residents say there\u2019s never been. And the town is located hundreds of miles from the nearest provider in the state.<\/p>\n

No matter.<\/p>\n

When the state became one of the top destinations for abortion care post-Roe, some decided to take a stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t like it by any means,\u201d said Brown, the science teacher from Portales, 20 miles southwest of Clovis. \u201cWe still don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Mexico is typically described as a blue state and, at all levels of government right now, it is. Since 2019, Democrats have held the governor\u2019s office and led the state House and Senate. The state attorney general and secretary of state are Democrats, too.<\/p>\n

The population centers of Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces are dominated by Democratic voters. But head east, to towns like Clovis, Hobbs, Roswell and others, and the ideological balance shifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much more Republican,\u201d said Timothy Krebs, a University of New Mexico political science professor. \u201cYou\u2019ve got cattle ranchers, you\u2019ve got farming, you\u2019ve got oil and gas, and then you\u2019ve got proximity to Texas, which I think influences things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even before Roe was reversed, New Mexico had some of the most lax laws on abortion in the nation, allowing the procedure throughout the full gestation period. After Roe, as abortion providers and patients flowed into the state, Brown and a friend, Erick Welsh of Clovis, reached out to anti-abortion advocate Mark Lee Dickson.<\/p>\n

Dickson, a pastor from Longview, Texas, and director of Right to Life of East Texas, oversees the \u201cSanctuary Cities for the Unborn\u201d initiative, begun in 2019. Dickson travels the country to help communities pass local ordinances to ban abortion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see abortion outlawed on every square inch of this planet,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we ever have colonies on Mars, then there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickson, with help from Texas lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, the strategist behind SB 8 and other anti-abortion legal maneuvers, crafts each ordinance to be unique to each town. In New Mexico, the measures aim to ban abortion by prohibiting the mailing of abortion-inducing pills like mifepristone and instruments used in surgical abortions.<\/p>\n

Dickson contends such bans are legal, even in states where abortion has not been outlawed, because of the<\/p>\n

Comstock Act, a law passed in the 1870s that made it illegal to mail \u201cobscene, lewd or lascivious\u201d materials related to abortion or birth control. The federal statute was considered dormant during the reign of Roe, but Dickson and others believe it\u2019s now back in play. The U.S. Department of Justice disagrees. Comstock is also at the heart of a court case seeking to ban mifepristone nationally. A recent \u201cSanctuary Cities\u201d event in Prescott Valley, Arizona, drew about 40 people. \u201cWe\u2019ve been wanting to come to Arizona for quite some time,\u201d Dickson called out to the crowd.<\/p>\n

In Clovis, Brown and Welsh worried abortion providers would set up shop, given the proximity to Texas. After connecting with Dickson, they convened the September interest meeting at Grace Covenant church, and things took off from there.<\/p>\n

Welsh, 40, has lived in Clovis since he was 5 years old. He found his faith in the middle of a rehabilitation center during a struggle with substance abuse in late 2017. Before that, he was spiraling and on the brink of losing all he had \u2013 his wife, kids, job and even his life.<\/p>\n

He began his adult life with few opinions on abortion, none against it. Now, he dedicates himself to God and, with that, fighting against abortion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is either for babies or against babies. That\u2019s it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no justifiable reason why anyone should be taking the life of a person, whether it is after they\u2019re born or before they\u2019re born. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

After holding several more events to rally community members, Brown, Welsh and other proponents succeeded in getting the ordinance on the agenda of the Clovis City Commission. It was debated at four different meetings \u2013 each so full many were not allowed into the chamber \u2013 before passing on Jan. 5.<\/p>\n

But not all in Clovis united behind the effort.<\/p>\n

After Roe was reversed, Clovis residents Laura Wight and Sarah Hartzell met at a protest, then together started the group Eastern New Mexico Rising to advocate for abortion and other progressive ideals in this conservative region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came up with the name, we created a Facebook group, we started sharing information and just trying to connect with people \u2026 and it just exploded from there,\u201d said Wight, who works as a library and museum director.<\/p>\n

She said the group now stands at about 300 members, including educators, mothers, nurses and military wives living on Cannon Air Force Base just west of Clovis.<\/p>\n

When word spread of Brown and Welsh\u2019s efforts, Eastern New Mexico Rising jumped into action. Wight, Hartzell and other group members began speaking at commission meetings.<\/p>\n

When they lost that battle, they tried to put the ordinance to a public vote but failed to gather enough signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still working to get voices heard, but there are folks in the more populated areas who are very quick to sort of paint the brush for the whole state when we\u2019re over here and we still need help,\u201d Wight said. \u201cWe\u2019re still fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Clovis debated, other New Mexico counties and towns passed anti-abortion ordinances: Roosevelt County, which includes Portales; Eunice, a small town south of Clovis; Edgewood, just east of Albuquerque; Lea County, which abuts Texas to the east and south; and Hobbs, a city just 6 miles from the Texas line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may not be able to change the culture in our state, but I\u2019m confident we could change the culture in our city,\u201d said Lori Bova, a founding member of the Lea County chapter of the Right to Life Committee of New Mexico and a key advocate of the ordinance in Hobbs.<\/p>\n

\"Lori
Lori Bova holds a photo of Maddison Grace, her baby who died during childbirth, at her home in Hobbs on June 25. Bova is a vocal anti-abortion advocate, in part due to her pregnancy loss. (Cassidey Kavathas\/News21)<\/span>Cassidey Kavathas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
A mother\u2019s fight<\/div>\n

Faith and family. For Bova, those two words shape her core values and mold how she\u2019s approached her activism for the last 25 years.<\/p>\n

Bova has dedicated her life to the anti-abortion sphere, a purpose she discovered as a senior in high school after she learned she was pregnant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world will tell you that\u2019s the end of your life. You can\u2019t be successful. You can\u2019t go on. Well, it\u2019s just not the truth,\u201d she said. \u201cIt actually was probably the beginning of my life, because it gave me a much more keen awareness of the value of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

She decided to put her baby up for adoption. Bova then went to college, had a career in corporate America and settled down with her husband, Craig, to start her family.<\/p>\n

While adoption helped inspire Bova\u2019s interest in anti-abortion activism, another loss cemented her focus. In 1999, Bova and her husband were expecting their first child. The baby, Maddison Grace, had grown in Bova\u2019s womb for 41 weeks.<\/p>\n

Bova was induced and, during labor, the placenta detached prematurely, leaving Maddison without her lifeline. The baby died.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were able to bring her into the room, and we were able to hold her,\u201d Bova said. \u201cIn that moment, I knew she had a purpose, and I think part of that purpose was for her mother to fight for every little baby like her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bova moved from Arkansas to New Mexico 12 years ago to start a Christian academy for children. When she learned about New Mexico\u2019s abortion laws, she began advocating at the state level and contacting her legislators.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I realized there was almost too much ground that needed to be gained.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Bova learned of Mark Lee Dickson and his ordinances. \u201cIt turned out to be a great path,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018State law is state law\u2019<\/div>\n

The city ordinances may be creative but, experts note, they are not enforceable.<\/p>\n

\u201cState law is state law,\u201d said Krebs, the political scientist. \u201cLocal governments are creatures of state governments, so they can\u2019t really have their own policies in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ordinances, he added, are \u201cjust symbolic.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, the New Mexico Legislature took steps to further cement abortion rights. Lawmakers passed<\/p>\n

House Bill 7 to protect abortion and gender-affirming health care and allow civil penalties for violations. The measure also prohibits public entities from approving or enforcing ordinances or policies that conflict with state law.\u201c Everyone deserves access to essential health care no matter what corner of our state they call home,\u201d state Rep. Reena Szczepanski, a Democrat, said when the bill was signed into law.<\/p>\n

Other new laws prohibit entities in New Mexico from sharing patient information related to abortion care to aid outside civil or criminal investigations or disciplinary proceedings and allocate $10 million toward a reproductive health clinic in Do\u00f1a Ana County, which includes Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

While all of that was happening, Bova joined Mark Lee Dickson in Washington, D.C. In front of the U.S. Supreme Court, they, along with Eunice city officials, announced a lawsuit against Gov. Lujan Grisham and the state attorney general over efforts to invalidate the local ordinances. That case is on hold while the state Supreme Court considers a separate challenge involving the ordinances.<\/p>\n

The new laws were big wins for abortion rights advocates like Laura Wight and Sarah Hartzell, but those on the other side aren\u2019t worried. Their fight will continue, said Welsh, the anti-abortion advocate from Clovis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a long game, it\u2019s not a short game,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd our hope is not in the state and it\u2019s not in the Supreme Court. It\u2019s in God alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

One year later<\/div>\n

On June 24, the morning of the anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson, the sun rose on an old dentist\u2019s office in Las Cruces that has been converted into a destination for women seeking abortion care.<\/p>\n

The parking lot of Pink House West, formerly Jackson Women\u2019s Health Clinic in Mississippi, held one car \u2013 an employee\u2019s with a New Mexico license plate \u2013 when the clinic opened.<\/p>\n

The sounds of morning doves and faint chatter from nearby apartments filled the air.<\/p>\n

This quiet is new.<\/p>\n

Last year, after Pink House West announced the move to Las Cruces, anti-abortion protesters amassed in this spot. They listened as officials with the Texas-based Southwest Coalition for Life announced it would open a so-called \u201ccrisis pregnancy center\u201d next door.<\/p>\n

Separated by a drainage ditch, a handful of abortion rights activists waved signs and chanted as the anti-abortion crowd drowned them out with calls of, \u201cWith God, all things are possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sun set that night as the two groups warred over the future of abortion in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

The fight may be gone now from the doorstep of Pink House West, but the battle rages on \u2013 in New Mexico and all across the land.<\/p>\n

News21 reporters Kevin Palomino, Jada Respress, Elise Gregg, April Michelle Pierdant, and Joseph Kual Zakaria contributed to this story. <\/em><\/p>\n

This report is part of \u201cAmerica After Roe,\u201d <\/a>an examination of the impact of the reversal of Roe v. Wade on health care, culture, policy and people, produced by Carnegie-Knight News21.<\/a> For more stories, visit americaafterroe.news21.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Mexico has been a brick wall and a safe haven \u2013 for those who provide abortions and those who desire or need them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-32048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32048"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}