WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:01.960 This older. 2 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:06.240 I think this part of town is close to the tracks. 3 00:00:06.800 --> 00:00:10.920 Today, I'm in eastern New Mexico with Latino USA senior 4 00:00:10.920 --> 00:00:14.960 producer Marta Martinez, and we just arrived to a town 5 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:16.400 called Clovis. 6 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.119 It's probably the older town, but it's cute. 7 00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:22.320 This is Cute, which is less than ten minutes away 8 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.200 from the Texas border, so we're in New Mexico but 9 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:27.880 a stone's throw from Texas. 10 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.600 There is a welcome sign that says welcome to Clovis, 11 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.600 a community for family. 12 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:40.080 And then a huge cross and a large replica of 13 00:00:40.120 --> 00:00:44.239 the Ten Commandments. And we're only eight miles from the 14 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:49.680 Texas border. So even though New Mexico is a blue state, 15 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:54.080 this part of New Mexico is actually kind of red. 16 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:56.120 It's not kind of red, it's very red. 17 00:00:56.360 --> 00:00:58.680 Yeah, And seeing the Ten Commandments is probably like the 18 00:00:58.680 --> 00:01:01.600 clearest sign of what kind of a time you're arriving 19 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:07.720 to here in Clovis, Marta and I are in this 20 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.280 part of New Mexico to report on an issue that 21 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:14.360 has put this remote region of the country into the spotlight. 22 00:01:15.080 --> 00:01:16.640 Abortion access. 23 00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:21.560 All you can see around here are these endless plains 24 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.039 where they grow peanuts and corn, it's a landscape that 25 00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:29.440 looks a lot more similar to Texas than New Mexico. Actually, 26 00:01:30.080 --> 00:01:33.200 and it's not only the landscape that's similar, it's also 27 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:38.200 the politics. In the last presidential election, about seventy percent 28 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:41.119 of people in this region voted for Donald Trump. 29 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.840 There are sixty six churches here in Clovis. 30 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.000 And it's a town of less than fifty thousand people, 31 00:01:48.880 --> 00:01:54.000 and nearly half of its residents are Latino Latina, latinx Latina, 32 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:57.160 or as they often say here, Hispanic. 33 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.600 Just past that Christian Wealth sign, we drive by a 34 00:02:01.720 --> 00:02:05.400 yellow church with a big white cross, and we see 35 00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:11.000 another sign that reads abortion is cold blooded murder. So 36 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.720 you might be wondering what's going on here, because New 37 00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:18.200 Mexico is blue. It's a democratic state that in fact 38 00:02:18.440 --> 00:02:23.920 protects abortion in its state laws. And that central contradiction 39 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:28.600 is exactly why we are here now. Martha, you like me, 40 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:31.359 have been reporting on women and reproductive rights for many 41 00:02:31.480 --> 00:02:34.359 years now, So why don't you give us the headline 42 00:02:34.440 --> 00:02:37.480 about just what's happening in eastern New Mexico. 43 00:02:38.160 --> 00:02:41.880 New Mexico is actually a very rural state. So yeah, 44 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:46.079 the big cities like Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces. They 45 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:50.040 are democratic, but the rural regions, especially here in the 46 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.000 east side of the state, are a lot more conservative 47 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.000 and religious, so that means there are more people who. 48 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:58.160 Are against abortion. 49 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.080 But we also need to put this into context, Maria, 50 00:03:02.160 --> 00:03:04.720 because a lot has happened in the last three years 51 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.600 when it comes to reproductive rights in the United States. 52 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:11.359 Yes, Martha, a lot has changed in terms of abortion. 53 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:16.480 In twenty twenty one, Texas passed Senate Bill eight, known 54 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.360 as SB eight, which is one of the strictest abortion 55 00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:20.840 laws in the whole country. 56 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.920 Well, a new law has taken effect in Texas that 57 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.639 will severely limit women's access to abortions. 58 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.720 Senate Bill eight, the Texas Heartbeat Act. 59 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:35.040 Abortions will be banned once a fetal heartbeat is detected. 60 00:03:35.480 --> 00:03:37.480 That's typically as six weeks gestation. 61 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:41.840 And what that meant on the ground was that a 62 00:03:41.880 --> 00:03:45.680 lot of women's clinics had to close. In fact, Whole 63 00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:49.080 Woman's Health is one of the providers that was directly 64 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.320 affected by SB eight in Texas, and we spoke with 65 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.160 Amy Hagstrom, she's the CEO and founder. 66 00:03:55.760 --> 00:04:00.160 When SBA went into effect in September of twenty twenty one, 67 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:01.240 it was devastating. 68 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.600 So when they had to close their Texas clinics, Whole 69 00:04:06.640 --> 00:04:10.680 Woman's Health and other abortion providers saw eastern New Mexico 70 00:04:10.920 --> 00:04:14.840 as the best place to establish their quote unquote frontline 71 00:04:14.880 --> 00:04:18.120 to keep providing services to people living in states where 72 00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:21.160 abortion is banned, especially in the south of the country. 73 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.480 And that strategy made sense Martham, at least on paper. Right, 74 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.320 Let's open clinics in a state that strongly protects abortion, 75 00:04:31.440 --> 00:04:34.880 a state like New Mexico. But let's also open clinics 76 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.680 in a border region that is right next to Texas 77 00:04:37.760 --> 00:04:40.120 so that people don't have to travel so far. And 78 00:04:40.200 --> 00:04:44.240 on that list of locations for a new clinic was Clovis, 79 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:45.799 which is where we are right. 80 00:04:45.640 --> 00:04:47.960 Now, primarily with proximity. 81 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:50.479 And part of what we were looking at in those 82 00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:52.520 border communities was one, will our. 83 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:53.560 Patients feel safe? 84 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:57.600 And two will our staff and our providers feel safe? 85 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.920 But it turns out that some neighbors in eastern New 86 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:09.960 Mexico were not so welcoming to this idea. From Futuro 87 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:14.440 Media and PRX, It's Latino Usa. I'm Mario Josa today 88 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.920 a story from our continuing series The Latino Factor. How 89 00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:22.400 We Vote about what is moving voters to the polls. 90 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.719 This time, we're going to travel to New Mexico to 91 00:05:25.760 --> 00:05:29.000 look at how abortion bans in Texas and in other 92 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:34.000 states are mobilizing Latinos and Latinas to take political action. 93 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:44.120 It turns out that in twenty twenty four, abortion is 94 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:47.240 one of the top issues for Latino voters in this 95 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:52.719 presidential election. Since the fall of Roe v. Wade a 96 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.640 little over two years ago, fourteen states have banned abortions 97 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.480 and another eight have passed laws restricting them as, especially 98 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:03.120 in the South and in the midwest of the country. 99 00:06:03.760 --> 00:06:07.359 This new reality has turned New Mexico into a hub 100 00:06:07.520 --> 00:06:11.120 for people who are looking to end their pregnancies and 101 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.599 check out this important piece of data. New Mexico is 102 00:06:15.640 --> 00:06:19.600 the state where the number of abortions has grown the 103 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.200 most over the last three years. Abortions went from less 104 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:27.840 than five thousand total in twenty nineteen to more than 105 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:33.640 twenty thousand in twenty twenty three. So here in eastern 106 00:06:33.760 --> 00:06:37.480 New Mexico, the issue of abortion has sparked tensions and 107 00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:42.640 its mobilized Latinos and very specifically Latinas to work for 108 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:51.720 or against abortion access. Today producer Marta Martinez and I 109 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.240 are going to introduce you to some of these new activists. 110 00:06:55.640 --> 00:07:00.280 Our piece is a collaboration with whyis the Pulse? And 111 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.160 to start off, we're gonna meet Dina Ortega. 112 00:07:04.440 --> 00:07:04.520 Hi. 113 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.280 Hi, how are you nice to find le Mitcha. Sorry 114 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.000 y'all had to come in such a cold day. 115 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.640 Dina had a lot of energy, right Martha. 116 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:16.880 Yeah, she's this very smiley, very energetic, thirty seven year 117 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:20.960 old woman. She wears these gold rimed glasses and I 118 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.840 think what is very important for her is this small 119 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:25.840 cross that she wears on her neck. 120 00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:29.240 I teach you through at my church and we're having 121 00:07:29.280 --> 00:07:31.760 a fundraiser, so I have the flyers everywhere house. 122 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.400 Now, Dina is not from Clovis, where we started the piece, right, 123 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:38.080 She's from a town that's pretty close, right. 124 00:07:38.080 --> 00:07:40.080 Yeah, Dina lives in Portales. 125 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.000 It's about thirty minutes south of Clovis and again less 126 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.080 than twenty minutes from the Texas border. 127 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.840 I grew up on the north side of town my 128 00:07:48.880 --> 00:07:51.600 whole life. It's just across the tracks, and growing up 129 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.000 they called it Taco Town because it was all the 130 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.200 Spanish people, poor white people, and my mom, oh. 131 00:07:59.040 --> 00:07:59.720 She hated it. 132 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:00.800 People still call it that. 133 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.400 There's even a restaurant, a taco truck and it's called 134 00:08:05.400 --> 00:08:06.000 Taco Town. 135 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:09.560 Lena really loves her neighborhood. That's where her family has 136 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.080 lived for generations, and they have a very different name 137 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:13.440 for it. 138 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:15.720 This kind of starts what they called or take a 139 00:08:15.760 --> 00:08:16.320 bill back. 140 00:08:16.400 --> 00:08:19.480 Then, Oh wait what because. 141 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:23.160 It's a bunch of ortegas all my dad's family. It 142 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:27.000 starts over here at my parents' street, and it goes 143 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:29.480 all the way over here back to my house. 144 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.240 I mean, yeah, talk about or take avill We drove 145 00:08:32.280 --> 00:08:34.520 around for a while and all the homes we saw 146 00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:37.200 were owned by her family. And then we pulled up 147 00:08:37.280 --> 00:08:40.520 to Dina's house, which was a grayish blue mobile home 148 00:08:40.920 --> 00:08:43.160 and it was the only one around here that has 149 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.160 a ramp instead of stairs to get. 150 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:46.959 It, Yeah, this is my house. 151 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.760 It was hard, but I got it. You know, I 152 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:51.760 worked hard for it. 153 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:54.319 And you know, is your daughter here? 154 00:08:54.640 --> 00:08:57.000 No, she's she had an event after school. 155 00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:59.280 And the reason why they have a ramp is because 156 00:08:59.280 --> 00:09:02.439 Dina lives with her eighteen year old daughter Sarah, also 157 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.600 her cat Spark. But Sarah is in a wheelchair, so 158 00:09:06.160 --> 00:09:07.079 that's why the ramp. 159 00:09:07.640 --> 00:09:08.680 But this is my house. 160 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:09.560 It's so cute. 161 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:13.920 Thank you now. Dina was only nineteen when she had 162 00:09:13.920 --> 00:09:15.320 her baby, girl, Sarah. 163 00:09:16.040 --> 00:09:19.480 Honestly, I was just young and stupid. There's no excuse. 164 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:22.439 I never really had that birth control talk with my mom. 165 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:24.840 It was always, if you have sex, you're going to hell. 166 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:28.720 Dina was already three months in when she took the 167 00:09:28.760 --> 00:09:33.280 pregnancy test and it came back positive. But you never 168 00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:35.000 thought of having an abortion. 169 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.280 It was ready too late. 170 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:37.199 Would you have. 171 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:40.480 Had if you had found out earlier? I know that's 172 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:41.920 hard to say now. 173 00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:41.800 But. 174 00:09:45.400 --> 00:09:49.120 I don't know. Back then, it wasn't something we talked about. 175 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.760 Something even new you could get. I wouldn't even have 176 00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:55.680 known like where to go, what to do, who to call. 177 00:09:56.760 --> 00:09:59.599 I mean, I was scared out of my mind to 178 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.680 tell my much less ask her what to do next. 179 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:04.959 What happened when you. 180 00:10:04.920 --> 00:10:08.320 Told your mom? 181 00:10:09.160 --> 00:10:09.920 I got in trouble. 182 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:13.960 It was awful. I know I broke my mom's heart. 183 00:10:14.280 --> 00:10:16.719 Did she support you? Yeah? 184 00:10:17.040 --> 00:10:19.720 If I didn't have my parents and my aunt and uncle, 185 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:21.720 I don't know what I would have done. 186 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:27.560 Dina's daughter was born with spina bifida, which means the 187 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.960 spinal cord doesn't form properly. 188 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:34.400 My daughter was sicker than sick. She only has one kidney. 189 00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:37.880 She's had over thirteen surgeries on her feet, on her. 190 00:10:37.760 --> 00:10:39.800 Back, so Sarah needed a lot of care. 191 00:10:40.040 --> 00:10:42.240 I don't want to do that again. And I actually 192 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.760 tried tying my tubes when I had her. But I 193 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:46.880 had her in Texas and I was nineteen, and the 194 00:10:46.920 --> 00:10:49.160 doctors didn't let me. They said I was too young. 195 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.959 After two years of focusing just on raising her daughter 196 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.880 and only twenty one years old at the time, Dina 197 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:02.200 started dating and she got into a new relationship. It 198 00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:05.760 was great at first, but then he started abusing drugs 199 00:11:05.760 --> 00:11:07.880 and alcohol and he got more controlling. 200 00:11:08.520 --> 00:11:11.280 I wasn't allowed to wear makeup. I wasn't allowed to 201 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.040 have a lock pass on my phone. I wasn't allowed 202 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:15.359 to be on birth control. 203 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:18.920 I remember Dina telling us that she was really shocked 204 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:23.040 when she came under this kind of control of her partner. 205 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.800 She definitely didn't expect that, and that was the one 206 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.800 thing that Dina knew she was never going to comply with. 207 00:11:30.280 --> 00:11:32.080 There was no way that she was going to have 208 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.360 another child after what she went through with Sarah, and 209 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:38.320 she also knew that she would be forever trapped with 210 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:42.120 her abusive partner. So she started taking birth control shots 211 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.800 every three months or so, and she did it in secret. 212 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.840 She would drive to Clovis, which is the town where 213 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.640 we started the story, and that's where the only women's 214 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:52.640 clinic in the region was at the time. 215 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:57.200 But Dina is very Catholic, right, Martha. 216 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.280 Yeah, and she didn't see taking birth control as a 217 00:12:00.280 --> 00:12:02.040 contradiction with her Catholic faith. 218 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.280 I really really don't think God would have wanted me 219 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:09.520 to bring a baby into that situation. My ex was 220 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:12.559 an addict and he was abusive. Why should a child 221 00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:13.400 have to live through that. 222 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:18.440 Dina stayed with her partner for thirteen years during the pandemic. 223 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.160 She finally told him to leave. 224 00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:24.120 Is that why you understand and take the possibility of 225 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.440 choosing an abortion? Is that why you take it so serious? 226 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.280 Because I know what it's like to feel trapped somewhere. 227 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.160 I would go to bed every single night and I 228 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.360 would just pray to God, God, I just want to 229 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:42.120 be happy. God, I just want to be happy. You 230 00:12:42.160 --> 00:12:46.000 should never, as a woman, as a human being, ever have. 231 00:12:46.040 --> 00:12:56.559 To think that. The summer when Roe v. Wade was overturned, 232 00:12:57.160 --> 00:13:01.280 that's when Dina started joining pro choice demonstrations in Portales 233 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:02.720 and in Clovis. 234 00:13:03.040 --> 00:13:05.120 I remember in high school I used to always say, like, 235 00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:07.680 I would love to live in like the sixties, the seventies, 236 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.000 so I could do the protests, do the marches. And 237 00:13:10.040 --> 00:13:12.679 then thirty years later, here I am doing it. You're 238 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.559 not supposed to go backwards, You're supposed to go forward. 239 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.560 And she became the vice chair of the local Democratic Party. 240 00:13:21.280 --> 00:13:24.160 It turns out that in Dina's family, their allegiance to 241 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.840 the Democratic Party runs almost as deep as their Catholic faith. 242 00:13:29.520 --> 00:13:31.800 If somebody knocked on my door right now and asked, 243 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:34.800 would you die for your Catholic faith, I would say yes, 244 00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:37.240 I would do anything for my Catholic faith. 245 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.120 Sixty percent of Latinos living in New Mexico described themselves 246 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:46.680 as Catholic. Not many shared Dina's particular views on abortion. 247 00:13:47.400 --> 00:13:50.080 But sorry for the who. What pisses me off is 248 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.880 they have so much say when it's a fetus, it's 249 00:13:52.880 --> 00:13:55.800 in the wound, But then that baby grows up gay, black, 250 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.080 trans Then all of a sudden, they don't like you. 251 00:13:58.520 --> 00:14:00.760 But I thought we all had to love all mankind. 252 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.720 But then Marta sbaight happened. 253 00:14:03.920 --> 00:14:08.040 Yeah, that's the very restrictive abortion law that Texas passed 254 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:12.320 only six weeks of pregnancy, and Dina was at work 255 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:13.920 at the local hospital that day. 256 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:15.640 She remembers it very well. 257 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:19.160 I just started crying at my desk and I was 258 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:21.840 just like, Oh my gosh, and I told my coworker, 259 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:24.720 we're going back to like the nineteen hundreds. What are 260 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:30.160 they going to take from us next. 261 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.520 Dina knew that the wave of consequences from SB eight 262 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.360 would also impact her community in eastern New Mexico, but 263 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:41.960 she didn't expect that part of it would involve trying 264 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.960 to bring back laws from the nineteenth century. 265 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:52.600 And coming up on Latino USA. How those nineteenth century 266 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:57.640 laws ended up waking up Latina activists in eastern New Mexico. 267 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:20.280 Stay with us, no devayas, Hey, we're back. Before the break, 268 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.760 we learned how the passing of an anti abortion law 269 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:29.200 in Texas ended up sparking tensions in Eastern New Mexico. 270 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.040 It turns out that some abortion providers saw eastern New 271 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.080 Mexico as the next ideal location to open new clinics. 272 00:15:40.520 --> 00:15:44.120 That's because it's right on the border with Texas. But 273 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:50.120 when news broke about these potential clinics opening, everything changed, 274 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:53.920 and that's why producer Matta Martinez and I traveled specifically 275 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:56.800 to eastern New Mexico to meet up with Latinas and 276 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:00.400 Latinos who were then mobilized into political actions and in 277 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:10.600 favor or against abortion access. So first there's Dina Ordega, 278 00:16:10.640 --> 00:16:13.600 who we just met, a devout Catholic who's also a 279 00:16:13.640 --> 00:16:16.480 strong believer in a woman's right to choose. 280 00:16:17.040 --> 00:16:20.280 And now we meet Victoria Robledo at a coffee shop 281 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:21.320 in Clovis. 282 00:16:22.920 --> 00:16:24.560 Hello, nice to me. 283 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:24.920 Nice. 284 00:16:26.160 --> 00:16:28.800 That's the town that's less than ten minutes away from 285 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.360 the Texas border that we mentioned at the top of 286 00:16:31.400 --> 00:16:34.520 the show where there's this welcome sign with this big 287 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:36.359 cross and the tank commandments. 288 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:40.360 This is Blackwater Coffee, my favorite coffee shop and arguably 289 00:16:40.400 --> 00:16:42.520 the best place in Clovis. 290 00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:45.440 Victoria moved to Clovis in twenty twenty one because her 291 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.120 husband got a job at Canon Air Force Base, which 292 00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:50.000 is nearby Clovis. 293 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.240 I like coming here because sometimes when you're in a 294 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:55.680 small town like this, you'll walk in and see, like 295 00:16:56.160 --> 00:16:57.840 almost the whole coffee shop, you know them. 296 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:01.160 And this is also the cafe where her activism group, 297 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.119 which is called Eastern New Mexico Rising, was founded, and 298 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:09.760 they meet regularly here. They started organizing around reproductive rights 299 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.640 after Rob Waite was overturned. 300 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.000 Can I just get an ice squacho late? 301 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:14.879 A large ice. 302 00:17:14.800 --> 00:17:20.440 Matcholate and Victoria? I mean, she's really got a big personality. 303 00:17:20.800 --> 00:17:21.000 Yeah. 304 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.639 Victoria is twenty five years old and she's already the 305 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.840 mother of two boys and also a personal trainer and 306 00:17:28.080 --> 00:17:28.879 an activist. 307 00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:32.280 So she has an incredible amount of energy. 308 00:17:32.800 --> 00:17:37.280 Today she's wearing this bright red lipstick because style matters 309 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:41.480 to her. She's also from Corpus Christi, Texas, like the 310 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:43.680 singer Selina, and she likes to point out. 311 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:45.800 So moving over here, I was like, this is not 312 00:17:46.040 --> 00:17:48.720 that different, you know, even though the state aligns with 313 00:17:48.760 --> 00:17:50.639 my value, is like the town does it. So I 314 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:52.440 feel like I'm just in Texas all over again. 315 00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:56.240 So after the coffee shop, we head to the public 316 00:17:56.280 --> 00:17:59.600 library in Clovis, and this is a place where Victoria 317 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.720 comes up often with her two sons. Victoria became a 318 00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:05.600 mother when she was very young, just like the Nortega, 319 00:18:05.840 --> 00:18:08.480 the other Latina we met earlier in the show, and 320 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:11.920 it had a deep impact on her political views. 321 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.439 I had him at nineteen, and so just like the 322 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:19.679 after effects of having him, like postpartum depression and not 323 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.560 getting the resources that I needed. It was like, Okay, 324 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.960 this is my issue, this is the one. 325 00:18:26.560 --> 00:18:28.119 That was what really spearheaded it. 326 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.320 In early twenty twenty two, Victoria and her husband celebrated 327 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:36.760 a pregnancy, but it ended soon in miscarriage. Then she 328 00:18:36.800 --> 00:18:40.920 got pregnant again, and now she was worried about how 329 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.320 the overturn of Roe v Wade might impact her access 330 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:49.760 to healthcare during her pregnancy, and the news began to 331 00:18:49.840 --> 00:18:51.600 hit much closer to home. 332 00:18:52.320 --> 00:18:55.439 And then I see a Facebook post in April about 333 00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:57.840 Women's Medical Center closings, and I'm. 334 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.280 Like, are you kidding me? 335 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.920 Women's Medical Center is where Victoria had started seeing an 336 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.320 OBGYN for her pregnancy in Clovis. So then it turns 337 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:14.199 out that they decide to close not because of Roe 338 00:19:14.280 --> 00:19:16.800 v Wade, but because the doctor who had been there 339 00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:20.080 for thirty five years decides to retire. But it wasn't 340 00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:21.000 that simple. 341 00:19:20.760 --> 00:19:24.160 Right, Yeah, they were not able to actually recruit enough 342 00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:28.439 new obgyns to keep the practice opening Clovis. But as 343 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.000 you said, Maria, this was a clinic that was super 344 00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:33.960 important for the whole region because it was the only 345 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.360 one that was able to deliver babies and perform guy 346 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:38.800 ncological surgeries. 347 00:19:39.080 --> 00:19:40.879 And pretty much everyone. 348 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.240 We met during our reporting when we were in Clovis 349 00:19:43.280 --> 00:19:46.439 and Portalis, they all had some kind of connection to 350 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:47.359 the clinic. 351 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:52.440 Right, And so when the clinic closes and Victoria is pregnant, 352 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.919 now Martha, she's told well, basically, get into your car, 353 00:19:57.040 --> 00:19:58.960 drive one hundred miles to go to Lubbock in the 354 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:02.520 state of Texas, because that was now the closest place 355 00:20:02.520 --> 00:20:06.080 where she could see an obgyn. But you know, Victoria 356 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.200 had already had a miscarriage. 357 00:20:09.080 --> 00:20:11.840 And it was a real fear because there were news 358 00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:13.960 at the time coming out of Texas of women who 359 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:17.520 had naturally miscarried and were not being treated by doctors 360 00:20:17.560 --> 00:20:20.399 because of fear of this new abortion law that was 361 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:21.280 passed in Texas. 362 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:25.639 Do you remember what that felt like when you were like, 363 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:27.840 my god, there's no healthcare around for me. 364 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.240 Yeah, it was really upsetting. 365 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.480 I was frustrated because a part of me was like, 366 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:36.000 why is this the only place here? Like why is 367 00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:38.360 there not more obi jo enns Because like hearing about 368 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.119 the obs like your rights might be at stake, but 369 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.320 here also your women's centers closed, so good luck. 370 00:20:45.560 --> 00:20:48.280 Like super personal, like the politics of the Supreme Court 371 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:50.160 suddenly are like in your small town. 372 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:56.399 Yes, and that led Victoria to get politically involved in 373 00:20:56.560 --> 00:21:01.240 her new hometown in a way she didn't expect, and 374 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:04.200 things got more tense very fast. 375 00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:13.960 So, dear listener, so far we've heard from newly minted 376 00:21:14.080 --> 00:21:18.760 Latina activists who are now out defending a woman's right 377 00:21:18.840 --> 00:21:22.400 to choose in their small towns in eastern New Mexico. 378 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.719 But of course, Latinos, like everybody else in this country 379 00:21:25.760 --> 00:21:29.439 in terms of politics, are very complex. So other people 380 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:32.800 have been mobilized now more than ever to rally against 381 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:36.760 abortion access. And we came upon this too in eastern 382 00:21:36.760 --> 00:21:37.360 New Mexico. 383 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:39.920 Is this sales first down to Clovis? 384 00:21:40.040 --> 00:21:43.680 Yeah, yeah, We met up with Pastor Eric Welsh at 385 00:21:43.760 --> 00:21:47.359 Grace Covenant Reformed Church in Clovis, and that's the same 386 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:50.000 town where Victoria the activist lives. 387 00:21:50.520 --> 00:21:51.480 I have no idea. 388 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:57.000 Yes, yes, his mother's family is from Mexico. His father 389 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:00.680 is Italian and Irish, but he grew up with his 390 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:05.640 familia on his mother's side, and so he identifies as Hispanic. 391 00:22:06.560 --> 00:22:10.320 It's a very matriarchal family. My grandmother and all my 392 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:14.200 aunts and my mom, they're all very strong women. 393 00:22:14.840 --> 00:22:18.239 In the summer of twenty twenty two, Eric Hurd that 394 00:22:18.520 --> 00:22:23.800 an abortion clinic was considering his hometown as a new location. 395 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:30.080 And they had named Clovis specifically, and it was like, Oh, 396 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:31.879 we need to do something about this. 397 00:22:32.520 --> 00:22:35.280 Because it was like, Oh, I live in New Mexico, 398 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:38.880 which is a blue state. Yes, they're going to protect abortion, 399 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:41.320 and I don't want to see this happen in my town. 400 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:41.800 That's right. 401 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:46.399