Contractors across New Mexico are reportedly refusing to participate in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s taxpayer-funded plan to build a new abortion facility in Las Cruces, temporarily halting the controversial project.
The $10 million complex, to be operated by the University of New Mexico Health System, is one of several abortion initiatives pushed by the Democratic governor since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
The New Mexico-based Southwest Coalition for Life, which leads opposition to the project, described the proposed facility as an “abortion megacenter” that would “target women from El Paso and Texas,” where abortion is largely illegal. The facility would be located behind MountainView Children’s Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, about 45 miles from El Paso, Texas, and would be the city’s fourth abortion facility opened in the past two years, coalition CEO Mark Cavaliere said.
Despite the governor’s backing, construction has stalled, according to the coalition, as local builders refuse to accept the contract. During an Oct. 8 webcast hosted by the coalition, State Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, said the state has been unable to find contractors willing to take on the job.
“They’re going beyond the local area because they can’t find any subcontractors to do any of the work,” Gallegos said. “It’s a miracle.”
Gallegos, who works in a family construction business near Hobbs, New Mexico — which he said is about 325 miles from Las Cruces — said three major contractors have approached him for help on the Las Cruces project.
“It was a definite no for us,” he said, adding that their searching beyond the local area is a positive sign.
Las Cruces businessman Randy McMillan, a coalition supporter, personally contacted several regional contractors to discourage them from taking on the project.
During the webcast, McMillan said he recently spoke with an El Paso contractor who planned to bid on the project. McMillan warned him that it was an abortion facility, not a general medical building as the contractor initially thought.
“I said, ‘Did you know it’s a late-term abortion center? They’ll be doing abortions up until the ninth month.’ He said, ‘I did not know that,’” McMillan said, recounting their conversation.
He later added, “‘I don’t want you to be blindsided, but we have a group of businessmen in Las Cruces and El Paso, and we are making it clear that we don’t want anybody to participate in this.’”
After learning more, the contractor withdrew his bid and told his subcontractors to withdraw as well, McMillan said.
Days later, McMillan said, the contractor called him back: “He said, ‘We did it. We stopped the bid. No one bid on the project. They can’t even get cement.’”
McMillan said multiple suppliers have since refused to provide materials. He explained that he called every cement contractor within 70 miles of Las Cruces, and all declined to participate.
“If you can’t get concrete, you can’t build a building,” McMillan said.
The Southwest Coalition for Life urged supporters to continue praying and asked New Mexicans to sign a petition opposing the facility.
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