In less than a month after the Texas "fetal heartbeat" abortion law took effect, clinics across New Mexico have seen a slight increase in patients coming from Texas to receive pregnancy-related health care services.
The law, which took effect at the beginning of the month, bans abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
The new Texas law allows anyone to file a lawsuit against an abortion provider or anyone else who has helped a woman get an abortion beyond the critical six-week point. The plaintiff may seek financial damages of up to $10,000 per defendant.
“We are starting to see more people coming to us for support,” Joan Lamunyon Sanford, Director at NM Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, told KRQE. “For help getting a place to stay while they’re here, getting rides to and from their appointment, helping with meal support while they’re here.”
Two weeks after the law had been enforced, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains -- an organization providing care to over 90,000 people across Colorado, Southern Nevada and New Mexico -- has had more than 30 patients from Texas per week scheduling abortion care, KRQE reported.
According to KRQE, 12 states have introduced similar abortion measures but only Texas’ version has been enacted.
