New Mexico governor invites Texas doctors to practice in her state following restrictive abortion law

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last Sunday an initiative to invite Texas doctors to consider relocating to her neighboring state of New Mexico, in response to Texas’s “draconian abortion ban.”

The governor launched a direct appeal to Texas health care providers, running a full-page ad in five major Texas newspapers last Sunday. The ads contained an “open letter” to “Texas healthcare providers” telling them that they are welcome in New Mexico to practice medicine without restrictions.

Lujan Grisham’s letter is part of a larger initiative called the “Free to Provide” campaign. In July, the effort was behind six billboards placed around the Houston Medical Center that said, “Come to New Mexico where you are free to provide.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, responded to the initiative in a statement to CNN.

“People and businesses vote with their feet, and continually they are choosing to move to Texas more than any other state in the country. Governor Lujan Grisham should focus on her state’s rapidly declining population instead of political stunts,” Mahaleris said to CNN.