N.M. governor says abortion increased after Dobbs because "more women are at risk"

Washington — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Sunday that two years after the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion guaranteed under Roe v. Wade, "there are more abortions happening because more women are at risk."

"You create a draconian situation, you're going to increase risk at every single place," Lujan Grisham said Sunday on "Face the Nation." She said that in the new patchwork of access in states, many women struggle to find a provider, leading to less access to contraception and less overall information about public health.

• Transcript: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on "Face the Nation," June 23, 2024

Two years ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion , allowing states to dramatically restrict access to the procedure. Now, near-total abortion bans are in place in nearly a third of states, along with severe restrictions in others. But between 2020 and 2023, abortions that occurred in the formal health care system rose 11%, according to the Guttmacher Institute , a pro-abortion rights research group. Those figures represented the highest number and rate of abortions in more than a decade.

The change illustrates how despite the bans, states where abortion remains available have seen significant increases in the procedure — especially states that border ones with the most dramatic restrictions, like New Mexico, which is among four states with the sharpest increases since Roe was overturned.

New Mexico has no gestational limits on abortion access. And the governor has taken actions in recent years to further protect access by making the state a safe haven for providers and patients from neighboring states, like Texas and Oklahoma.

"This is a state that's clear about protecting women and creating equality," the governor said.