FOLLOW THE DATA: INTERNAL STATE EMAILS RAISE NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GOVERNOR’S ABORTION STATISTICS

Public records released through IPRA reveal internal Department of Health communications, an official abortion dashboard, and unanswered questions about how New Mexico’s 2024 abortion statistics were compiled and communicated.

By Bud Shaver,

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Abortion Free New Mexico (AFNM) today published its analysis of public records obtained by Tara Shaver through New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). The records, produced by the Governor’s Office, include internal Department of Health emails, an official abortion dashboard, and related communications that raise new questions about how Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration obtained, compiled and communicated the 2024 abortion statistics she publicly cited on June 24, 2026.

The records reveal that the Governor’s Office relied on abortion figures that had been circulating internally for months, while a later Department of Health dashboard reflected different numbers. The records released to AFNM provide no explanation for the discrepancy.

Following Governor Lujan Grisham’s June 24 social media post stating that 11,512 abortions were performed in New Mexico during 2024, with 71% involving out-of-state patients, Tara Shaver submitted an IPRA request seeking the records supporting those figures.

The records produced by the Governor’s Office on July 15, 2026, reveal a paper trail spanning nearly six months of internal communications between the Department of Health and the Governor’s Office. Taken together, the documents show how abortion statistics were requested, discussed, updated, and communicated publicly, while raising new questions about the methodology and consistency of the figures used by state officials.

THE PAPER TRAIL

Figure 1. Internal emails released through IPRA show the Governor’s Office requested updated abortion data on January 9, 2026. Nearly six months later, on June 24—the same day Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham publicly cited 2024 abortion statistics—the Department of Health responded with updated data through early May 2026.

Timeline Summary

The records show that state officials were discussing abortion statistics months before the Governor’s public statement. A January 9 email referenced 11,512 abortions in 2024 and noted that updated 2025 data would require additional time to compile, analyze, and confirm. On May 6, the Department of Health dashboard reflected a different 2024 total of 11,523. The Governor nevertheless cited the earlier 11,512 figure on June 24, and later that same day the Department sent the Governor’s communications staff updated data through early May 2026.

Exhibit C: Official Department of Health Dashboard

Figure 2. Official Department of Health abortion dashboard released through IPRA to Tara Shaver on July 15, 2026. The dashboard reports 11,523 abortions in 2024 and includes detailed resident-state data through May 6, 2026, but no accompanying records explain the methodology, provider participation, verification process, or reconciliation with other published abortion totals.

The records do not explain:

• Why the Governor publicly cited 11,512 when the Department’s later dashboard reported 11,523.
• Which figure was considered final.
• When or why the total changed.

​Perhaps most significantly, the January email acknowledges that the Department’s abortion data required additional work before it could be considered complete.

​In the email, Nott wrote:

…the 2025 data will take some time to compile, analyze, confirm, etc.”​

Records Show 2025 Data Was Still Under Review

Figure 3. Internal Department of Health email released through IPRA showing that, as of January 9, 2026, the Department advised the Governor’s Office that updated 2025 abortion data was still being compiled, analyzed, and confirmed.

AFNM says that statement raises broader questions about the Department’s methodology and quality control. 

These records show that state officials themselves acknowledged abortion data required additional compiling, analysis, and confirmation,” said Tara Shaver, leader with Abortion Free New Mexico. “Yet the public has never been shown the methodology behind these statistics or why different official records report different totals. New Mexicans deserve transparency, not unexplained discrepancies.”

The released records also contain no documentation explaining:

• How the Department of Health compiled the abortion statistics.
• Which abortion providers submitted data.
• Whether every abortion facility participated.
• How the figures were verified before being released publicly.

​
​These unanswered questions are especially significant because legislative testimony on Senate Bill 30 indicated that abortion providers had not consistently submitted reports required under New Mexico law since approximately 2019. Rather than restoring compliance and strengthening public accountability, the Legislature repealed the abortion reporting requirement through Senate Bill 30 in 2026.

AFNM contends that transparent, consistent, and independently verifiable reporting is essential to maintaining public confidence in abortion statistics used to inform public policy.

Meanwhile, the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study estimated 18,130 clinician-provided abortions in New Mexico during 2024—thousands more than the Department’s reported total. Guttmacher’s estimates rely in part on voluntary participation by abortion providers and other data sources, creating a troubling contrast: providers appear willing to share abortion data with a private abortion-rights research organization while legally required reporting to the State went largely unfulfilled. The records released by the Governor’s Office do not explain that disparity or reconcile the competing totals.

This investigation is no longer simply about one number,” said Bud Shaver, Executive Director of Abortion Free New Mexico. “It is about whether New Mexico’s government can demonstrate how abortion statistics are collected, verified, and communicated to the public. When official records conflict and no methodology is released, public confidence suffers. Government data should be transparent, consistent, and independently verifiable.”

AFNM has published the released records and its accompanying analysis to encourage greater transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the abortion statistics used to inform public policy in New Mexico.

RELATED:

• ​DECORUM COLLAPSES AS DEMOCRATS FORCE SB 30 FORWARD — CODIFYING A VIOLATION OF STATE LAW
• FOUR YEARS AFTER ROE, NEW MEXICO’S ABORTION INDUSTRY GROWS WHILE CHILDREN ARE LEFT BEHIND
• GOVERNOR’S ABORTION NUMBERS RAISE QUESTIONS AFTER THOUSANDS OF ABORTIONS APPEAR UNACCOUNTED FOR
• STATE OF EMERGENCY: GUTTMACHER CONFIRMS NEW MEXICO AS THE NATION’S ABORTION CAPITAL