SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday issued the following statement on President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will seek to codify abortion rights at the national level in the next Congress:

“Every New Mexican – and every American – has the fundamental right to make their own reproductive health care decisions no matter which state they live in. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, millions of women have been thrust into a terrifying reality in which they no longer have the ability to make their own decisions about their body, their family, or their future. In New Mexico we’ve ensured that every person has the right to make their own decision about abortion – and as more states move to restrict and prohibit access to abortion and reproductive care, New Mexico will continue to not only protect access, but to expand and strengthen reproductive health care throughout the state. I commend President Biden’s commitment to echo the work we are doing here in New Mexico on a national scale to ensure that every woman and every American will have the protected right to make their own reproductive health care decision no matter where they live.”

Gov. Lujan Grisham has taken unprecedented steps to protect access to a full spectrum of reproductive health care in New Mexico, including enacting 2021 legislation repealing an antiquated state law that would have criminalized abortion providers upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Following the Supreme Court opinion ending nationwide protections for abortion access, the governor signed an executive order further safeguarding access to reproductive health care by protecting abortion providers in New Mexico, making it clear that New Mexico will not cooperate with extradition attempts from other states that choose to enforce draconian laws and attempt to prosecute patients or providers.

In August, Gov. Lujan Grisham signed an additional executive order further expanding access to reproductive health care in the state of New Mexico by designating $10 million of the governor’s capital outlay funds for the development of a reproductive health care clinic in Doña Ana County. The clinic will be aimed at fortifying and expanding New Mexicans’ access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including regular preventative care, family planning, prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care and support, lactation counseling and support, abortion, and appropriate medical management of miscarriage and pregnancy loss.