The New Mexico Department of Health is recruiting Texas physicians with an ad campaign that targets the state’s strict abortion laws.

Full-page ads appeared in Sunday’s editions of five major newspapers in Texas, including the Star-Telegram.

The newspaper ads feature an open letter from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham inviting Texas physicians to “consider practicing next door in New Mexico” if they are frustrated by the Lone Star State’s abortion law.

Texas has one of the strictest laws in the nation — it bans most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy.

The only exception is for conditions that threaten the life of the mother, though the Texas Medical Board declined to clarify in June exactly what conditions those are.

Fort Worth OB-GYN Andrea Palmer told the Star-Telegram in a June interview that she was concerned about a drain on women’s health care in Texas.

Palmer said that the “best and brightest” used to consider Texas a great place to continue their medical education and careers, but due to strict abortion laws, that’s no longer the case.

“Outside the need of abortion care, I think we’re going to end up with fewer OB-GYNs in the state over time,” Palmer said.

Applications to Texas OB-GYN residencies fell 16% for the 2023-24 cycle, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Applications across all specialties fell by 11.7%, according to the association.

New Mexico needs doctors: 32 of the state’s 33 counties were federally designated Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas in 2023, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

The state spent $400,000 on newspaper ads in Texas and for billboards near Texas Medical Center in Houston, according to Patrick Allen, New Mexico’s cabinet secretary for the Department of Health.

Allen said Texas was chosen because of its track record on abortion and its proximity to New Mexico. If the campaign is successful, Allen said, the department will consider expanding the campaign to other states.

“In New Mexico, you’re able to practice to the full extent of your medical judgment without worrying that a prosecutor or sheriff is looking over your shoulder second-guessing your health care judgment,” Allen said.

The advertisements contain the URL to a website, Free To Provide NM.

The website contains a database of medical jobs in New Mexico, as well as resources for medical licensing and links to lifestyle and education resources.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office hit back at Grisham in a statement after the ads’ release.

“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,” officials with the governor’s office said.

THOREAU, N.M. – Thoreau is home to fewer than 3,000 people. Many of them, and those that live on the surrounding Navajo Nation, know the struggle for water.

“There’s an existential crisis for water out here,” said Chris Halter, executive director of St. Bonaventure Indian Mission School. “We have food pantries, we have mental health services for people, but I think the most amazing thing we do is provide water.”

For years, they have provided water access for people and have been the source of water for Darlene Arviso’s water deliveries.

“They’re my people, so they need me,” Arviso, dubbed the Water Lady, said. She has been delivering water to homes on the Navajo Nation for 18 years. “They’ll be happy to see me.”

A ‘loco’ idea

The well and water tank at St. Bonaventure Indian Mission School had to come offline for mandatory maintenance and upgrades last year. It left the community in dire need of solutions. Chris Halter got with his brother, Drew, to brainstorm. The idea for Jacob’s Well was born.

“I think the idea still seems a little bit… loco,” Chris said.

Drew, familiar with transporting goods via rail and wondered if it’d be viable to move potable water to the water-starved west.

“It just kind of all came together at once,” Drew said.

Jacob’s Well, named after a bible passage, is the name of the soon-to-be nonprofit that takes water from Helena, Mississippi and Liberty, Missouri and transports via rail to Thoreau.

They have shipped more than half million gallons of water to the Navajo Nation and hope to expand the water-by-rail delivery system.

“The more we move, the more the price is going to keep coming down,” Drew said.

The clean, drinkable water is pumped from the rail car into Arviso’s truck and delivered to different homes across the Navajo Nation five days a week.

Showing up for her people is something that runs in Arviso’s family.

“My grandfather was a medicine man, and he was doing the same thing,” Arviso said. “Helping other people.”

SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe police are looking for a suspect who they say shot and killed someone in the Best Buy parking lot Tuesday morning.

Officers responded around 10:25 a.m. to a report of a shooting. They arrived and found a man shot in the parking lot. He later died from his wounds.

Police say the suspect stole his blue 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, with New Mexico license plate CRM142 and drove off before officers arrived. They say the suspect is a man with a goatee, tattoos on his arms, black jeans, a baseball cap and a bright blue shirt with a button-up shirt underneath.

Officers are actively searching for this suspect. They describe him as armed and dangerous.

If you see him, call 911 immediately.