SANTA FE — The New Mexico Senate has approved legislation that would eliminate the state’s long-standing requirement to report abortions to a central registrar, a change opponents say would reduce transparency and limit lawmakers’ ability to rely on standardized data when shaping abortion policy.
Senate Bill 30 repeals a section of the state’s vital statistics law requiring physicians or health facilities to file a report with the state registrar within five days of performing an induced abortion. Under current statute, those reports are statistical in nature and cannot include a patient’s identifying information. The law also directs the state not to release a physician’s name or address.
During floor debate, sponsor Sen. Peter Wirth said the practical effect of the repeal is clear.
“If this bill passes, it will eliminate the requirement to maintain specific statistics about this medical procedure,” Wirth told senators. He added that the reporting system has not been active in recent years, saying, “There’s been no reporting since 2019.”
Opponents said repealing the statute without creating a replacement statewide reporting framework would remove one of the state’s formal mechanisms for collecting comparable abortion statistics. Opponents said lawmakers depend on consistent reporting to understand trends, evaluate public health impacts and inform legislative decisions.
Sen. Gabriel Ramos urged colleagues to reject the measure, calling the reporting requirement more than a procedural detail. “Removing this requirement does not protect anyone,” Ramos said. “It simply removes the transparency.” He warned that eliminating standardized reporting could leave policymakers without reliable information. “Policy made in the absence of facts is policy made in the dark,” he said.
Several Republicans echoed the oversight concern, saying privacy protections could be maintained while preserving aggregated data. Sen. Craig Brandt Wilson said he believed lawmakers could “find mechanisms to protect the provider, but still collect the information.” Sen. Bill Boone said that if taxpayer dollars are used for the procedure “in any way,” it should be “reportable to the public.”
Supporters said the repeal reflects changes in abortion law and addresses provider safety concerns. Wirth described the statute as outdated, telling lawmakers the state has made policy decisions treating abortion like other medical procedures. “I was certainly honored to take those votes,” he said. “I’m proud to live in a state where abortion is treated as a state right.”
Wirth also cited health agency analysis stating there is “no medical reason” for the registrar to maintain abortion-specific reports and warning that holding such information could expose providers to harassment or misuse. He noted that abortion data may still be collected through voluntary or indirect channels outside the registrar system.
SB 30 passed the Senate following extended debate and now moves to the House for consideration, where lawmakers will weigh competing arguments over provider privacy and the state’s role in maintaining centralized public health data.
