PRESS RELEASE
03/23/2023
Media Contacts:
Jared Lathrop, Dir. of Marketing & Communications, WWH & WWHA,
Moises Serrano, Communications Manager, WWH & WWHA (Spanish and English)
[email protected]
New Full-Service Abortion Clinic to Open in New Mexico Today
Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico opens its doors for abortion procedures and medication abortion care in Albuquerque.
ALBUQUERUE, NEW MEXICO –Whole Woman’s Health (WWH) has officially opened the doors to Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico, and will begin seeing patients today, March 23, 2023. Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico will be located at 718 Lomas Blvd, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102 and is just minutes from Albuquerque International Sunport Airport (ABQ).
Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico provides first and second trimester in-clinic abortion procedures to 18 weeks of gestational age, and has plans to expand care up to 24weeks in the near future. The clinic also provides medication abortion care to 11 weeks. In addition to high-quality health care services, the fully bilingual clinic staff create an individualized experience and help patients shed personal and cultural shame and/or stigma around abortion care and offer care with the respect and dignity all people deserve.
“Tomorrow marks nine months to the day that we were forced to shutter our Texas clinical operations; today we are once again able to provide abortion care to New Mexicans, Oklahomans and to the communities we served for 20 years in Texas. As we open our doors to both local communities and those forced to migrate from other states for care, we remain unbelievably grateful for the thousands of supporters from around the world that came together to make this clinic a reality,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, President and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health.
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a case that directly challenged Roe v. Wade. In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS also overturned Roe, a Texas’ based case that reinstated an abortion ban in Texas that immediately shuttered all four clinics managed by Whole Woman’s Health in Texas. Prior to this ruling, Texans had been navigating a 6 week since September 1, 2021. WWH and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance were at the center of a major lawsuit challenging SB 8 that reached the Supreme Court of the United States in November 2021: Whole Woman’s Health, WWHA, et al. v. Jackson and was dismissed in January 2022 as a victory to the anti-abortion extremists seeking to dismantle care in the United States.
Throughout SB8 and following the fall of Roe, New Mexico became a refuge to patients being forced to travel out of states across the Southwest for abortion care. This put strain on New Mexico’s existing clinic resources as it would be a safe haven for the more than 50,000 Texans that seek abortion care annually. In July 2022, Whole Woman’s Health launched a GoFundMe campaign to help relocate the four Texas clinics to New Mexico, as it remains a state where abortion is legally protected. The campaign remains a success with over 3,500 singular donations totaling over $300,000, including donations as far away as Australia and Eastern Europe. The opening of Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico truly represents a worldwide effort in ensuring that patients continue to have access to abortion.
“Today marks the next chapter of our organization. In these times when abortion rights, health, and justice are under attack, our Albuquerque clinic will serve as a safe haven for abortion care,” said Marva Sadler, Senior Director of Clinical Services for Whole Woman’s Health. “Since the start of SB8, we have painstakingly watched our patients be forced travel as far away as Minneapolis, Alexandria and Baltimore for abortion care. As of today, we can now offer a clinical location closer to home.”
Whole Woman’s Health previously served New Mexico with the Whole Woman’s Health of Las Cruces clinic. Opened in 2014, the clinic helped serve both Texans and New Mexico residents during the reign of Texas’ HB2, which closed 75% of all Texas abortion clinics. On June 27, 2019, in a historic win in the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt case, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Texas law allowing abortion clinics to eventually resume services within the state. At that time WWH closed the Las Cruces clinic and reopened Whole Woman’s Health of Austin. As the organization again opens in New Mexico, we seek opportunities for collaboration with local providers and allies.
“Today is not just a celebration for us, but an opportunity for us to join in and align with a city and local communities that have been helping our patients for months. We believe that our patients deserve limitless opportunities to receive abortion care on their terms, and we are happy to be an option,” said, Shardae Russel, Southwest Manager of Community Partnerships for Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, “We will continue to work with local and state abortion funds to provide care for local New Mexicans seeking care and look forward to connecting with our allies all over the South to help pregnant people migrate out of their state to get the abortion they need that they’re being denied in the place they call home.”
This clinic joins the WWH’s family of clinics located in Bloomington, Minnesota, South Bend, Indiana, Charlottesville, Virginia, Alexandria, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Virtual Care Program that serves patients with abortion pills by mail in New Mexico, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, and Illinois.
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About Whole Woman’s Health: Whole Woman’s Health (WWH) is a privately-owned healthcare organization, committed to providing holistic reproductive health care. Clinics managed by WWH provide comprehensive gynecology services, including abortion care, in communities where access to abortion is most restricted. It is our philosophy that everyone must be at the center of their own healthcare decisions, and that treating patients holistically will better serve and improve health and happiness in our communities. WWH manages five clinics, located in: Bloomington, MN, Baltimore, MD, South Bend, IN, Charlottesville, VA, and Alexandria, VA. WWH also offers virtual abortion care services in New Mexico, Maryland, and Illinois, Virginia and Minnesota. For more information: www.wholewomanshealth.com
About Whole Woman’s Health Alliance: Whole Woman’s Health Alliance (WWHA) works to strategically shift the stigma around abortion in our culture and is committed to fostering open and honest conversations, lifting all communities, and transforming the abortion care environment. WWHA is a 501(c)3 organization leading powerful stigma eradication, culture change and community education work across the United States. The work is rooted in and informed by direct service work delivering high quality abortion care around the country. WWHA’s largest programs are the operation of clinics in Bloomington, MN, Charlottesville, VA, and South Bend, IN. We are committed to maintaining clinics in challenging places where access to quality abortion care is under attack. For more information: www.wholewomanshealthalliance.org