New Mexico governor adds another $10M to state budget for a second abortion complex

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has quietly inserted a $10 million funding request for yet another new abortion facility in Northern New Mexico into House Bill 450 — a $1.2 billion capital outlay package. 

The last-minute addition was made without public input, sparking strong opposition from Republican lawmakers and pro-life advocates who argue that taxpayer dollars should not be used to expand abortion access. Despite their objections, the bill passed the New Mexico House of Representatives by a 41-25 vote and now moves to the state Senate.

The facility, which would be overseen by the University of New Mexico, follows a similar $10 million appropriation in 2023 for an abortion facility in Las Cruces. While the governor’s office has promoted the project as “a comprehensive reproductive health center” providing services such as contraception, miscarriage management, and cancer screenings, its primary purpose is to expand abortion access.

New Mexico has no restrictions on when or why an abortion can be performed, and the University of New Mexico is known to provide abortions up to 23 weeks and 6 days gestation. Reports from Live Action News have documented the university’s involvement in fetal research using the remains of aborted babies. Attorney Mike Seibel obtained records showing that the university has shipped body parts of aborted babies across the United States and into Canada. The remains of these preborn children, including brains, lungs, and eyes, were used for research.

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Republican Rep. Rod Montoya introduced an amendment to remove the abortion funding from the bill and criticized the way it was quietly added without broader discussion. 

“Us using taxpayer dollars in New Mexico to create a state-funded abortion clinic that caters to out-of-state abortion-seekers is just … a pill that is too hard to swallow,” Montoya said. His amendment was ultimately blocked by the Democratic majority.

Republican Rep. Stefani Lord also condemned the move, calling attention to the urgent infrastructure needs in her district that remain unfunded. “At the last minute, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham sneaks in $10 million for an abortion clinic while my district needs millions for roads, water, law enforcement, fire departments, administration buildings, bridges, sewer lines,” Lord wrote in a social media post on March 19.

She pointed out that her district is still waiting on $5 million for a desperately needed well in the city of Estancia.

Mark Cavaliere, CEO of Southwest Coalition, told Live Action News in a statement:

New Mexico has become a maternal health desert, where abortion access already grotesquely overshadows prenatal and childbirth care. Post-Dobbs, abortion profiteers have invaded our state, ballooning from six to 26 businesses—now exceeding actual childbirth services.

Yet, our Governor has the gall to siphon yet another $10 million of our hard-earned tax dollars for even more abortion, shamelessly targeting Texas and now Colorado women to pad the abortion industry’s profits on our dime.

This isn’t just a betrayal of New Mexicans—it’s a moral atrocity, a fiscal outrage, and a slap in the face to every woman in our state yearning for genuine healthcare that actually supports and nurtures her body and health instead of altering, suppressing, and destroying it. 

Concerned Women for America, a conservative Christian women’s legislative action committee, urged New Mexico residents to speak out against it before the Senate vote. “We are outraged by the shocking and underhanded actions of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham,” the organization stated. “In a last-minute political maneuver, she has requested an additional $10 million from the state legislature to fund yet another taxpayer-funded abortion center — this time in Northern New Mexico. This comes on top of the $10 million already allocated last year for an abortion facility in Las Cruces.”

The governor’s office defended the funding, claiming that expanding abortion access is “necessary” to meet demand following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, lawmakers and pro-life advocates rightly argue that this is not about health care but rather an effort to make New Mexico a destination for abortion, using taxpayer dollars to fund a procedure that ends innocent lives.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Live Action research fellow Carole Novielli.