A study released yesterday found more than 14,000 patients in Texas came to New Mexico for abortion services in 2023. (Photo by Astrid Riecken / Getty Images)
Patients coming here from Texas received about 70% of an estimated 21,000 abortions provided in New Mexico in 2023, according to a study released Thursday.
The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health advocacy and research organization, estimates that 14,200 patients traveled to New Mexico from Texas for abortion care in 2023, the first full year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Texas bans abortions unless the life or health of the pregnant patient is at risk and other requirements are met.
About 400 other patients came here from Oklahoma and Arizona, as well, according to the study.
Location for Doña Ana Co. reproductive health center expected to be announced next month
Abortions have increased in New Mexico more than 260% since 2020, according to the institute. Many providers attributed the increase generally to an influx of patients from Texas, but the institute created an “innovative methodology” to calculate a specific number, according to a news release.
The institute also found that the percentage of abortion care recipients from out-of-state increased from 38% in 2020 to 71% in 2023. That’s the highest proportion of out-of-state recipients in the country, according to the study.
About 1,610 abortions are performed in New Mexico every month, according to the study. That number rose to more than 2,000 in March 2023.
Citing the study, the New York Times on Thursday reported that 171,000 patients overall traveled outside their home states to get an abortion procedure or abortion pills in 2023.
The sheer amount of interstate travel to get abortion care shows “just how far people will travel to obtain the care they want and deserve,” said Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a Guttmacher Institute data scientist, in a news release.
To estimate the number of out-of-state patients in New Mexico and elsewhere, the study drew from monthly surveys from abortion providers at facilities that border states with abortion, as well as data collection from providers statewide. Facilities are asked to provide data on patients’ state of residence, how far along they are in their pregnancy and other topics, according to the institute.
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