The New Mexico Alliance for Life has accused the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center of making plans to purchase Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, N.M., to provide abortions and other reproductive healthcare services.
But that’s not quite true.
UNM Health Sciences Center spokesperson Chris Ramirez said the health system has been “exploring ways” to purchase, design, construct and furnish clinical facilities to improve rural healthcare in San Miguel County, as lawmakers required of the institution during this year’s legislative session.
Alta Vista hospital leaders also confirmed in a statement “no transaction is planned” currently between the hospital and the Health Sciences Center.
The Alliance for Life’s accusation was one of a pair of abortion-related half-truths circulated on social media and in anti-abortion publications in recent weeks.
In another rumor, Abortion Free New Mexico earlier this week claimed Santa Fe’s Planned Parenthood has halted abortion services, which the anti-abortion organization’s executive director, Bud Shaver, called a sign of a “failing abortion industry” in the state. However, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said in-person medication abortion services had been halted at the site for over a year due to a staffing shortage and haven’t yet resumed. The services will return to the clinic in early 2027, according to Planned Parenthood.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade — which opened the door for states to severely restrict access to abortion — New Mexico has become a destination for women seeking the procedure. More than 10,000 such patients traveled to the state to obtain an abortion in 2025, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and advocacy organization.
The state in 2024 broke ground on a $10 million clinic in Las Cruces that will provide abortion services and other reproductive health care for New Mexicans and for residents of neighboring states with restrictions on the practice. The legislative capital outlay was earmarked by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a staunch supporter of abortion rights.
The issue can spark disagreement in New Mexico — particularly when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to fund reproductive healthcare clinics.
Still, at the behest of Lujan Grisham, the Legislature in 2025 approved another $10 million to fund a Northern New Mexico reproductive health clinic — to provide medication and in-clinic abortions, contraception, miscarriage management and preventive care — a move Republicans decried as an improper use of taxpayer dollars.
Dr. Christopher Arndt, interim president and CEO of the UNM Medical Group, said during a Feb. 17 board of regents meeting the organization was searching for the “best locations” for the Northern New Mexico reproductive health clinic.
“After discussions with the state of New Mexico, it was found that Las Vegas, New Mexico, would be the ideal location for that,” Arndt said during the meeting.
Lawmakers earlier this year approved $15 million in capital outlay for UNM to “acquire property for and to plan, design, construct, equip and furnish clinical facilities to improve rural access to health care in San Miguel county.”
Given both of those legislative appropriations, “the university is actively evaluating regional healthcare models to increase access to healthcare for Northern New Mexico residents,” Ramirez, the UNM Health Sciences Center spokesperson, wrote.
Elisa Martinez, executive director of the New Mexico Alliance for Life, slammed that decision, accusing the institution of expanding “their abortion empire to Las Vegas.”
“It is no surprise the pro-abortion activists are targeting Las Vegas, New Mexico. With two college campuses and a central role in northern New Mexico, this community puts them within reach of young women facing unexpected pregnancies,” Martinez said in a Sept. 24 news release.
But that doesn’t mean the UNM health system is snapping up Alta Vista Regional Hospital. The hospital on Sunday issued a news release announcing it previously had entered a preliminary letter of intent related to a “potential transaction” with UNM. However, the letter expired Sept. 1.
Alta Vista CEO Helen Ballantyne did not respond to requests for more information about the nature of the “potential transaction.”The New Mexican has requested documents from UNM through the state Inspection of Public Records Act to learn more about the proposal.
“The expiration of the letter of intent does not change Alta Vista Regional Hospital’s ability to serve its patients or its commitment to the community,” the hospital said in the statement. “The hospital continues to advance its focus on providing quality care, supporting its employees, and strengthening healthcare services throughout the region.”
Care returning to Santa Fe
The lack of abortion services in Santa Fe is not a new development, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains spokesperson Fawn Bolak wrote in an email to The New Mexican.
The local health center on St. Michael’s Drive reopened to patients in May after staffing shortages kept it closed for more than a year. However, Bolak wrote the facility hasn’t provided in-person abortion care since the reopening, pending further training for its new provider.
“Our provider at this location will be completing additional clinical training specific to these services soon, and we hope to begin offering in-person abortion care in Santa Fe in early 2027,” she wrote.
Bolak noted patients can still access medication abortion via telehealth and in-person abortion care at the Planned Parenthood facility in Albuquerque. Since May, she said, the Albuquerque clinic has provided abortion care to nearly 100 patients from Santa Fe.
Editor’s note: Politics Check is an occasional series that shines a light on public officials or public policy news in New Mexico.
Margaret O’Hara reports on issues affecting healthy communities in New Mexico. Her work is funded by a grant from Anchorum Health Foundation. Anchorum will not have any role in editorial decisions. The New Mexican and its Public Service Journalism Fund retain full editorial control. Philanthropically funded stories by The New Mexican are made available to all readers without a paywall.
