New Mexico has telephone hotline for women seeking access to abortion clinics

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says her administration has set up a new telephone hotline for women seeking access to abortion clinics plus transportation and other assistance.

The hotline is already live but is still being built out, according to Lujan Grisham. The number is (833) 767-3776.

It will be staffed by registered nurses with the state Department of Health and paid for using existing resources.

New Mexico has seen a surge in abortions, driven largely by residents from Texas and other states that have enacted abortion bans.

New Mexico is currently one of the states that has legal access to abortions.

According to state data, there were more than 11,000 reported abortions statewide last year compared with nearly 4,900 abortions reported in 2021.

So far this year, there have been almost 5,300 abortions performed in New Mexico, which currently has 19 abortion providers.

Six of those providers offer surgical abortions, with the rest providing medical abortions.

The hotline will also include advice on other maternal health issues and could end up convincing more out-of-state providers to relocate to New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said.

It has been one year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide.