The new front line of the U.S. abortion battle is on the remote plains of New Mexico, where two conservative towns are set to outlaw the medical procedure despite it remaining legal in the state after Roe v. Wade was struck down.
The towns of Clovis and Hobbs do not even have abortion clinics but are strategic, activists and clinicians say, because they are near the border with Texas, to the east. Texas was one of the first states to impose a near-total ban on abortion and providers could face up to life in prison there.
The New Mexican abortion provider within closest reach for most Texas women is currently in Albuquerque — about a four-hour drive from Clovis and five hours from Hobbs.