By Bud Shaver,
Albuquerque, New Mexico- Under the current administration, led by Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Abortion Free New Mexico has obtained very limited data about taxpayer funded abortions through New Mexico Medicaid. In an Inspection of Public Records (IPRA) request on February 6, 2025 made to the New Mexico Health Care Authority (HCA), Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico asked for a plethora of information regarding the numbers of abortions that were funded through New Mexico Medicaid. The response that the Health Care Authority provided was unprofessional, unclear and incomplete but Abortion Free New Mexico is publishing what has been revealed so far in this investigation.
The following information was requested:
- How much money was paid for abortion procedures by New Mexico Medicaid in 2022, 2023 and 2024?
- How many abortion procedures were paid for by New Mexico Medicaid in 2022, 2023 and 2024? (Please specify whether the procedure is chemical or surgical.)
- Which providers in New Mexico were paid by New Mexico Medicaid for abortion procedures in 2022, 2023 and 2024?
- What is the gestational ages of the fetus’ for which abortions were paid for by New Mexico Medicaid in 2022, 2023 and 2024?
- How many abortion procedures were paid for by New Mexico Medicaid on undocumented immigrants in 2022, 2023 and 2024?
On March 4, 2025 the New Mexico Health Care Authority public records custodian gave a one sentence reply to Shaver’s initial request which was quite concerning. It simply stated,
“The New Mexico Health Care Authority, $2,980,083.31 was paid in PregTerm through 2022- 2024. The New Mexico Health Care Authority does not have documents responsive to the remainder of this request.”
In a back and forth to clarify, two different dollar amounts were ultimately given, with the final amount being over $3.7 million dollars (Total – $3,768,818.32) for 2022, 2023 and 2024. The letter below dated April 16, 2025 also included a breakdown by year, showing that 2024 had the highest amount paid out for abortions. The lack of transparency regarding this request, however, is a breach of the public trust.
In previous years under a different administration, public records requests were fulfilled completely with all requested data included. Not only did the HCA give a limited repsonse, they also stated that they did not have documents responsive to the rest of the request. Upon reading this, Shaver decided to ask where additional data could be obtained in the interest of public accountability.
Shaver then received the following response via email correspondence with the public records custodian,
“Dear Mrs. Shaver, no we do not know of an government agency that would have this because Medicaid, as we have indicated, does not pay for this. You could try private entities like planned parenthood. Thanks, HCA IPRA Team.”
Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico issued the following statement,
“It is very frustrating when a state agency, like the New Mexico Health Care Authority, that is entrusted with public information withholds, denies and even changes the information when it is requested by the public. This is unfortunately the norm in Democrat run states like New Mexico. The New Mexico Health Care Authority denied that Medicaid even pays for abortions but gave two contradicting dollar amounts for PregTerm (short for Pregnancy Termination) which is regarded as medical or surgical abortions. For a state that is so proud to champion abortion, why are they so unwilling to release actual abortion numbers that state taxpayers have funded? Is this an indication that they know how evil abortion really is and are attempting to hide this information from the public?”
Abortion Free New Mexico has reached out to an open government organization for assistance and has submitted another IPRA request to the New Mexico HCA to try and gain the original requested information based on the medical codes used for abortions.
New Mexico is 1 of 19 states that uses state tax dollars through Medicaid to fully fund elective abortions. This use of state tax dollars being utilized to fund abortions through New Mexico Medicaid despite the Hyde Amendment, is based on a New Mexico Supreme Court order.
According to the ruling issued in 1999,
The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled that the State must cover all medically necessary abortions in its Medicaid program using State-only funds. The Court based its decision to expand coverage of abortion services on the State Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Specifically, the Court found that the Medicaid agency’s rule prohibiting State funding for certain medically necessary abortions denies Medicaid-eligible women equal rights. The agency’s rule results in a program that does not apply the same standard of medical necessity to both men and women, and there is no compelling justification for treating men and women differently with respect to their medical needs.”
The cost of a first trimester abortion is typically around $600, whereas a 32 week abortion costs $17,500.
There is a definite trend in New Mexico to promote abortion but keep citizens in the dark about their shameful deeds. During the most recent 2024 legislative session, radical abortion legislators introduced multiple bills to suppress abortion related data. Unfortunately, one bill did pass, SB57 which prevents the public from knowing the names of abortion providers, employed by a public body. It begs the question, why do you want to hide your identity if you are so proud to take the lives of little babies by performing grisly abortions, some up to 32 weeks of pregnancy? The citizens of New Mexico deserve transparency from their government and every innocent life should be protected under the law, born and preborn,” stated Tara Shaver.
