Women in Texas will take back control of their reproductive healthcare by leaving the state or going to Mexico to have abortions, say rights advocates

• Women who have migrated from Mexico to Texas will have to choose whether to turn back to access abortion care.
• American women are also migrating across the country to manage their pregnancies how they choose to.
• Salesforce said it would help employees relocate if they had concerns about access to reproductive healthcare.

Mexican immigrants to Texas are considering returning to their home country to terminate their pregnancies to avoid the new Texas abortion laws, say reports.

Mexico decriminalized abortion on September 7th, just six days after the strict Texas "heartbeat bill" came into practice banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Gretchen Kuhner, who offers legal representation to migrants and victims of gender violence as a part of Mexico's Migration Institute for Women (IMUMI), spoke to The Times to explain the difficult choices now confronting the women it helps.

"[One woman that we support] has two children already and wants an abortion. There was a small window for her to find help - that's now closed. The mother faces a devastating decision to turn back and forego her asylum application or have the baby," she said.

Abortion clinics in Mexico are already preparing to receive women from across the border after the state's Republican-controlled legislature passed the first so-called heartbeat bill on September 1, The Times reported.

American women are also crossing the borders of states to access abortions elsewhere in the country. Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, an Albuquerque-based abortion, told NBC.

"Every time Texas passes some kind of bill restricting abortion, we see more people seeking care here in New Mexico," she said.

For example, the number of Texans getting abortions in Planned Parenthood clinics in the Rocky Mountain region, covering Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and southern Nevada, was 12 times higher when Gov. Greg Abbott banned abortions in March 2020 for almost a month under a COVID-19 executive order, AP report.

Some may also leave the state permanently. In a Friday slack message obtained by CNBC, Salesforce, the cloud computing company, said it would assist any employees and their families who are looking to relocate over their state's reproductive laws.

"These are incredibly personal issues that directly impact many of us - especially women," the message said, without taking a stance on the law. "We recognize and respect that we all have deeply held and different perspectives. As a company, we stand with all of our women at Salesforce and everywhere."

"With that being said, if you have concerns about access to reproductive healthcare in your state, Salesforce will help relocate you and members of your immediate family," it continued.