In large, predominantly rural New Mexico, Bold Futures was born out of a desire for people of color in the majority-minority state to have a voice in reproductive decision making that affects their lives. Led by and for Black, Indigenous, and Latina women and nonbinary people of color, Bold Futures is a reproductive justice organization that works across the state, supporting change related to specific issue areas through policy advocacy, culture shift, place-based organizing, and research. As a community-advised organization, Bold Futures works authentically with groups to inform their approach on issues, empowering and emboldening individuals to become storytellers and share their complex, intersectional identities and lived experience with decision makers and other stakeholders who are ultimately responsible for creating change.
Bold Futures NM along with allied organizations led powerful and prescient organizing to protect abortion access in the state. Anticipating threats to Roe, they helped overturn a statewide abortion trigger ban three years before Dobbs. This meant that New Mexico was not directly impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision, however, the state did experience an influx of patients coming from nearby states where they could no longer access safe, legal abortion care. With only three centers in New Mexico that could provide procedural abortion care at the time, this increase significantly strained providers’ capacity. Additionally, even prior to Dobbs, many Indigenous communities and military members were not included in the amendment protecting abortion in the state, which meant they could not receive abortion care. For these reasons, Bold Futures deepened its work focused on expanding access to the full spectrum of high quality reproduction services.
Alongside partners Strong Families and the University of New Mexico, Bold Futures led community engagement efforts in three counties that were potential sites for an abortion clinic. More than 40 individuals – including OBGYNs, midwives, doulas, mental health providers, youth services providers, and members of the LGBTQ community – participated in discussions about challenges related to experiencing or accessing reproductive care in their respective counties. From this engagement, a new combined effort called the Reproductive Healthcare Success Project was launched between Bold Futures, Strong Families, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, and the University of New Mexico. Bringing their individual areas of expertise to the project, all of the partners, along with an advisory board representing organizations like the New Mexico Doula Association, are fully committed to opening a new reproductive health care center. The endeavor is now further bolstered by a $10 million contribution from the state’s leadership.
In 2022, Bold Futures was also able support legislation, public education, and community organizing around two bills, prohibiting public entities from creating barriers to reproductive health care services for individuals and adding gender affirming care to the definition of reproductive health care, and develop a Reproductive Healthcare Success Guide as a community-led resource for care providers in the state.
