Mark Lee Dickson is trying to get the federal anti-obscenity law at the heart of ordinances enforced across the US
Cecilia Nowell
Thu 9 Mar 2023
When Amy Hagstrom Miller closed her Texas abortion clinic after Roe v Wade fell, the founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health wanted to reopen just across the border in New Mexico, to make care as accessible as possible to Texans who could no longer access it in their state. But anti-abortion advocates had other plans.
Hagstrom Miller was considering purchasing a building in the border town of Hobbs when, last November, the city passed an ordinance banning abortion and declaring itself “a sanctuary city for the unborn”. Earlier this year, the towns of Clovis and Eunice followed suit, as did the counties of Roosevelt and Lea. Hagstrom Miller and her team decided instead to open their new clinic in Albuquerque, a more progressive city about 200 miles from the Texas border, where they hope providers and patients will feel more welcomed. The clinic is currently awaiting approval of its licensing paperwork before officially opening.