By Bud Shaver,
Albuquerque, New Mexico — Abortion Free New Mexico (AFNM) is warning that New Mexico’s political leadership has repeatedly allowed the state to become a destination for activities shielded from public scrutiny — a pattern now repeating itself through Senate Bill 30, which eliminates public abortion reporting requirements.
AFNM says the same governing culture that allowed powerful interests to operate behind closed doors in the past is now deliberately positioning New Mexico as a hub for abortion tourism, while systematically removing transparency and accountability.
“When powerful men, wealth, and secrecy converge — and the state looks the other way — the public loses,”said Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico. “New Mexico has seen this pattern before, and we are watching it repeat itself.”
(Infographic illustrating Zorro Ranch allegations, institutional failures, one-party rule, SB 30, and the removal of abortion transparency.)
Zorro Ranch: A Destination Protected by Silence
Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico became nationally known not only for its isolation, but for the powerful individuals who traveled in and out of the state, shielded by wealth, influence, and institutional silence.
Court filings, unsealed materials, and investigative reporting have repeatedly referenced the ranch in connection with allegations of sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation, including disturbing claims involving forced sexual activity, pregnancies, and children taken from victims.
Recent disclosures tied to the Epstein case include allegations — still unverified — that teenage victims were impregnated, that infants were seized from them, and that severe abuse occurred on or near the New Mexico property.
Additional allegations describe deaths and burials connected to abuse at or around the ranch.
See document below detailing serious allegations and unresolved disclosures.
This document is presented as part of publicly reported and unsealed materials related to Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico property. The contents reflect allegations and claims that have appeared in court filings, investigative reporting, and disclosures. Their inclusion here underscores the seriousness of what may have been concealed for years and the need for transparency, scrutiny, and accountability.
AFNM is not asserting criminal guilt beyond what courts have determined, but says the lesson is unmistakable: New Mexico became a destination precisely because secrecy was tolerated and oversight was absent.
“New Mexico wasn’t just the location — it was the environment,” Shaver said. “A place where powerful people could come and go with little oversight and even less transparency, while victims were left without accountability.”
Sexual Exploitation, Trafficking Indicators, and the Absence of Oversight
AFNM notes that many of the allegations associated with Zorro Ranch mirror recognized indicators of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, including:
- Control over victims’ movement and bodies
- Sexual abuse tied to power and coercion
- Allegations of pregnancies resulting from abuse
- Claims of children taken from victims
- Long delays or failures in investigation
“These are precisely the kinds of abuses that thrive when institutions refuse to look, records are hidden, and oversight is treated as optional,” Shaver said.
From Elite Travel to Abortion Tourism
AFNM says the same pattern is now playing out in abortion policy.
As other states enact abortion restrictions, New Mexico’s leadership has intentionally positioned the state as a regional abortion destination, drawing large numbers of out-of-state patients. Yet instead of strengthening transparency and safeguards, lawmakers have moved to hide abortion data from the public.
“Our leaders are inviting abortion tourism while stripping away the public’s ability to see what’s happening inside these facilities,” Shaver said. “That combination should alarm everyone.”
Federal Outreach Met with Silence
AFNM recently contacted members of New Mexico’s federal delegation requesting review and oversight of the state’s abortion regulatory framework — including the lack of facility licensing, inspections, and public reporting.
Only one member of the delegation responded, and that response did not address the substance of the concerns raised.
The remaining members did not respond at all.
“When federal officials won’t even engage documented concerns about patient safety, trafficking risks, and public accountability, silence itself becomes part of the problem,” Shaver said.
(Graphic highlighting AFNM’s request to Senator Martin Heinrich and New Mexico’s federal delegation regarding routine inspections and equal medical safeguards.)
SB 30 and Provider-Testified Secrecy
AFNM notes that abortion providers, includingPlanned Parenthood, testified in favor of SB 30, advocating for the removal of public abortion reporting requirements and reduced transparency.
SB 30 eliminates longstanding public data, including aggregate information on:
- Abortion procedures
- Complications and injuries
- Outcomes in a taxpayer-funded system
All while abortion facilities in New Mexico remain exempt from routine healthcare facility licensing and inspections.
“We are being told this secrecy is necessary — not by patients — but by abortion providers themselves,” Shaver said.
“When regulated industries argue against transparency and lawmakers comply, that’s not healthcare policy. That’s protection.”
Ideology, Abortion, and the Normalization of Abuse
AFNM notes that New Mexico’s permissive abortion policies have also attracted organizations that explicitly frame abortion as a religious or ideological act, rather than a medical one.
The Satanic Temple, which openly identifies as a Satanist organization, has publicly declared abortion to be a religious sacrament and has moved to provide abortion services in New Mexico — a state with no gestational limits, public funding, and minimal oversight.
This development has raised alarm among advocates who say New Mexico’s leadership is not merely expanding access, but welcoming ideologies that intentionally reject moral, ethical, and medical guardrails.
In a widely published interview with Cosmopolitan, Tara Shaverwarned that the Satanic Temple’s involvement underscores a deeper moral crisis in abortion policy.
“Abortion is demonic child sacrifice,” Shaver said.
“Do our leaders realize that they have this unholy alliance with Satanists? I think it just serves to show the origins of abortion and the type of people that champion it.”
(Image showing Cosmopolitan magazine coverage referencing Tara Shaver’s comments on abortion ideology and The Satanic Temple.)
Excerpt from a nationally published Cosmopolitan feature quoting Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico in the context of The Satanic Temple’s abortion clinic and its framing of abortion as a religious sacrament.
AFNM emphasizes that this is not a question of theology, but of governance and accountability.
“What we are witnessing is a shift away from abortion being defended as healthcare to abortion being openly described by some groups as a ritual or sacrament,” Shaver said.
“When abortion is no longer even framed as medicine, but as an ideological or religious act, it exposes how far this policy debate has moved from patient safety, accountability, and basic ethical standards.”
One-Party Rule and Institutional Alignment
AFNM says New Mexico’s long-standing one-party dominance has produced a political environment where regulators, lawmakers, and providers appear aligned in restricting oversight rather than enforcing it.
“When leadership across agencies and branches all move in the same direction — toward less transparency, fewer records, and reduced scrutiny — the public is right to question who this system is serving,” Shaver said.
(Graphic illustrating Democratic majorities in the New Mexico Legislature, New Mexico’s congressional delegation, and the New Mexico Supreme Court, alongside public statements by state leadership on abortion policy.)
Graphic showing one-party control across New Mexico’s legislative, executive, judicial, and federal representation and its relevance to abortion policy and oversight decisions.
A Call to End the Pattern
Abortion Free New Mexico is calling on lawmakers and federal officials to:
- Restore public abortion reporting requirements
- Apply equal healthcare standards to abortion facilities
- Investigate allegations of abuse and trafficking wherever they arise
- Recommit to transparency, oversight, and public accountability
“New Mexico should never again be known as a place where powerful interests come to do what they can’t do elsewhere — protected by silence,” Shaver said.
“Transparency is not extremism. It’s the minimum requirement of ethical governance.”
About Abortion Free New Mexico
Abortion Free New Mexico is a nonprofit organization dedicated to public accountability, patient safety, and transparency in abortion policy through research, public records, and legislative oversight.
AFNM also provides compassionate outreach and direct financial support to pregnant women in crisis through the AFNM Life Fund, helping ensure that women and families receive the resources, care, and support they need so that abortion is never presented as the only or necessary option.
Learn more at AbortionFreeNM.com.
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