(LifeSiteNews) — A recently released documentary portrays the stark reality of the post-Roe abortion fight in the U.S., highlighting the substantial increase in out-of-state abortions and greater openness from mothers to choose available life-affirming alternatives.
Last month, Sidewalk Advocates for Life introduced a 14-minute film titled “Saving Lives in a Post-Roe America: A Case Study on New Mexico.” The short documentary, released on YouTube, considers the radically pro-abortion state of New Mexico as “ground zero” in the abortion battle and reveals how pro-life legislation has protected the unborn but provided new obstacles for pro-lifers striving to save all babies from death.
The film follows Lauren Muzyka, president and CEO of Sidewalk Advocates for Life, as she speaks with pro-life leaders in New Mexico — which has dubbed itself an abortion destination state — on the changed landscape and how to best serve women in crisis pregnancies.
“This is the new ground zero and biggest question in the post-Roe abortion battle,” Muzyka says at the beginning of the film. “How do we reach mothers in crisis before they’re tempted to cross state lines and then how do we best serve them and help them to choose life for their pre-born children once they’ve traveled hundreds of miles to the next nearest abortion facility?”
“I knew that if we wanted to help save lives and end abortion in this new era, I had to journey there to understand what this all looked like and what we were up against and learn how we can gradually turn hearts and minds and eventually see an abortion destination state like New Mexico defend life.”
During Muzyka’s visit to one of the most dangerous states for the unborn, she spoke to numerous pro-life leaders about the abortion battle.
Mark Cavaliere, executive director of Southwest Coalition for Life, described the increase in out-of-state abortions as a situation that has left local pro-life organizations “feeling overwhelmed and overrun.”
Cavaliere explained that his organization is in El Paso, which sits “right on the state line” and “between the two most extreme states on the life issue.” Texas law prohibits abortion from the moment of conception, and New Mexico allows it until the moment of birth.
“We started to see a significant increase of women traveling from across the state of Texas, 16 hours across the state. We had a line of women literally going out the door around the abortion clinic from Houston, Texas, from Austin, from Lubbock, for an abortion because this was the nearest place they could go,” he said.
Cavaliere added that “now there’s a different level of desperation” among the mothers seeking to kill their babies, citing the stressful factors of feeling the need to obtain the abortion after having invested in travel expenses.
Kyle Brown, who is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Hobbs, New Mexico, shared that he was devastated to learn that a Texas-based abortion facility was planning to buy a property behind his church with the intention of slaughtering the unborn.
“We’re only three miles from the Texas border,” Brown said. “This community is the closest point for all of west Texas to come and get an abortion.”
Fearing that the facility would successfully relocate, the pastor emphasized the need to “ask the Lord to intervene for us.” About a week before the business was set to close on the property, “the deal fell through.” Brown commented that “no one knew how, no one knew why, and sometimes that’s how miracles happen.”
One of the most prominent locations for abortion in New Mexico is the Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization, founded by the owner of the now-defunct Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Mississippi abortion facility at the center of the Dobbs case.
The business relocated after the historic Dobbs decision. Founder and lead counsel for Abortion on Trial Mike Seibel pointed out that many women from Dallas, Midland, and Odessa “typically get referred here” for abortions.
The killing business dispenses the abortion pill up until 11 weeks into a pregnancy and offers surgical abortion up to 16 weeks. It also tells women to “be aware of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) and steer clear of them.”
Seibel added that women receive funding for travel expenses from major abortion activism groups including the National Abortion Federation (NAF) Hotline, the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), the West Fund, and the Mariposa Fund.
“This isn’t a scenario confined to the southwest,” Muzyka said about the dire situation. “It’s playing out all over the country as abortion legislation continues to evolve.”
Throughout America, states that have effectively banned abortion share borders with other states that allow the murder of the unborn throughout pregnancy. Idaho, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee all have pro-life legislation in place to protect the unborn at all stages of development.
However, neighboring states permit abortion up to at least 20 weeks, opening the possibility for similar challenges to arise as they have between Texas and New Mexico.
MAP: Most abortions are banned in 13 states, more states to follow
Despite the new obstacles encountered in post-Roe America, Muzyka emphasized that “if abortion is illegal in your state, we really need to be there to serve these women before they’re tempted to come across state lines.”
“Everywhere abortion is illegal, our sidewalk advocate teams are saying that women in general are more open to options and resources,” she said, highlighting that although out-of-state abortions are increasing, so are the number of women willing to choose life because abortion is not as “readily available” as life-affirming alternatives.
RELATED
Pro-life sidewalk advocates ‘stand in the gap and God does the rest’
New Mexico Senate passes radical bill banning restrictions on abortion, mutilating gender surgeries