SAN ANTONIO – The silence is deafening inside Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio.
“To have it completely empty and quiet, it’s sad,” Andrea Gallegos said. “It’s kind of eerie, you know?”
Gallegos is the executive administrator at the abortion clinic.
The clinic is owned by Dr. Alan Baird. Baird also serves as the provider for abortions.
He made headlines in September of 2021 after Baird said he performed an abortion prohibited by the law.
The last time Gallegos remembers a full waiting room was the same day the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade.
“Obviously, it wasn’t a surprise to us that the decision was coming or what the outcome would be. However, we were not expecting it that day,” Gallegos said. “We thought we might have a bit more time. And, you know, it was kind of the race of the clock of how much longer we had to keep scheduling patients, keep seeing patients before the decision came through. So, we did have a waiting room full of patients.”
Gallegos said it was a tough day for the physician and staff at the clinic.
However, according to Gallegos, there is still a demand for abortions.
“We had to have the very difficult conversation with everyone in our waiting room, and let them know that there was nothing we could do to help them, that they would not be able to have their appointment that day,” Gallegos said. “There were cries and screams and sounds that, you know, I still remember. I’m not going to forget the cries for a long time.”
The patients in the waiting room were provided information on resources available to them far away from home.
“We gave them information for clinics, out-of-state organizations that help with the cost of the travel to get to those states or organizations that help with the cost of the procedure,” Gallegos said.
For weeks, exam rooms have remained empty and since then, most of the medical equipment has been packed up.
“We’re just in the closing phases of this clinic packing up and hoping that we’ll be able to open our doors in Albuquerque by September,” Gallegos said.
Similar to their patients, Braid and his staff now plan to make an out-of-state trip to provide abortion services. However, theirs will be permanent.
“If a patient is living in Texas or any other anti (abortion) state and needs or wants these services, they have to flee their home state,” Gallegos said. “So, very much like that, you know, it became obvious that would be the only way that we could still be able to provide accessible care.”
Currently, the clinic has started an online fundraiser “Fund Her Right” to help fund the move. Their goal is to open the doors in Albuquerque as early as September of this year.
“(For Dr. Braid) to make the decision at his age to seek a new medical license in another state, and actually in two other states, because we’re opening in Illinois as well, that’s a pretty big deal,” Gallegos said.
Currently, New Mexico only has three abortion clinics with weeks-long wait times.