Advocates say federal cuts are threatening reproductive health care across the country, with research grinding to a halt from lost grants and service providers shutting their doors as donors have started to disappear. But New Mexico is bucking that trend with a new clinic still on track to open next year.
Bold Futures has been working on opening a new reproductive health clinic in southern New Mexico since before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 and Executive Director Charlene Bencomo says the group is not slowing down.
“We've had funders reach out and say, ‘Hey, do you want us to remove the description of Bold Futures from our websites because you mentioned gender affirming care? You talk about supporting LGBTQ communities, you talk about supporting abortion care.’ And It's really caused us to have to dig in deep and say, ‘No, this is the work that we do. These are our values, and this is the work we will continue to do, because our communities are telling us this is what they need.’”
The nonprofit focuses on changing policy, community organizing, shifting culture and, what Bencomo calls “healing justice.” She says Bold Futures, like many reproductive health care organizations, is looking at new ways to secure funding.
Potential cuts to Medicaid would have a large impact on reproductive healthcare, as does the recent freeze on some Title X funds, which subsidizes birth control access. Although federal funds do not go to support abortion, the vast majority of services provided at reproductive health clinics does qualify for federal reimbursement, according to KFF Health.
Moreover, Bencomo says some donors have stopped giving in light of the political environment since President Trump took office. With hundreds of bills proposed restricting transgender rights, and what the ACLU calls president Trump’s “anti-trans crusade,” Bencomo says donors, especially large organizations and high-profile individuals, are avoiding public support of clinics or organizations that don’t align with the White House’s priorities.
“We are definitely seeing a lot of change in the philanthropic landscape saying ‘we can give you the money this year, but we can't promise things coming in the future,’” she said. “Folks are shying away from some of the work that we are doing to expand and protect abortion care, specifically, and gender affirming care.”
Judy Wright said the political environment in New Mexico is much more supportive of these efforts than other parts of the country. She’s director of state programs for the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, which supports reproductive health care efforts across the country.
“New Mexico has incredible policies, really one of the leaders of our nation in terms of the on paper access to care,” Wright said, “And also the actual infrastructure of care providers is really lacking in the state. There are parts of the state where people just don't have access to the care that they need and want.”
Wright says that’s why they’ve been involved with supporting the new clinic being built in Las Cruces by Bold Futures along with partners Strong Families New Mexico, Planned Parenthood and the University of New Mexico, which is aiming for a July 2026 opening.
It will offer a full spectrum of reproductive health care including STI testing, cancer screenings, contraception, and pre and postnatal care.
Bencomo said it's important to remember that as reproductive health clinics face more challenges, it’s not just abortion services that are threatened.
“This hurts everyone. This hurts folks that are wanting to bring babies into this world,” she said. “This hurts any person who will need to access any kind of reproductive health care across their lifespan.”
Moreover, Wright said other federal cuts are making the effects of reproductive health care losses even worse. She said when people have instability in other areas of their life, whether that's housing or education, their ability to make proactive decisions around reproductive health care is also compromised
“The social services that are needed to then sustain someone who's in a more vulnerable position are also being cut. So, you don't have access to child care, you don't have access to preschool,” she said. “Those supports that are in place are simultaneously being cut while people's ability to access care to help them really have their own autonomy around how they build their family is being cut at the same time.”
In addition she said immigrant communities are feeling those cuts the hardest in the face of increased deportations. She said they aren’t accessing care at all, not as a result of cuts, but simply out of fear for their own safety.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
