The City Different will be abortion-less come new year.
Dr. Lucia Cies, who runs Santa Fe's only abortion clinic, plans to retire on Dec. 23. She stops performing abortions on Dec. 16.
Only five abortions clinics will remain in the state, according to Operation Rescue, a pro-life advocacy group known for publishing faces and identity info of abortion doctors.
Santa Fe's Planned Parenthood branch will still refer women seeking abortions to its Albuquerque location, which performs them. Dana Middleton, president of Santa Fe's National Organization for Women chapter, says she's disappointed but understands Cies' need to retire. Cies has been providing care for 35 years.
"It will be a loss for Santa Fe and the women here who need privacy about their decisions," Middleton tells SFR.
Middleton says prospective doctors are "going to have to step up to the plate" to fill the abortion-provider shortfall being felt across the country. She speculates that NOW and other organizations will soon work on helping Santa Fe women seeking abortions transport to Albuquerque.
NOW currently works with Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice nonprofits to provide lodging and transportation for women in northern New Mexico seeking abortions.
Neither Cies nor Project Defending Life, an Albuquerque-based pro life group tied with Operation Rescue, returned calls from SFR before press time.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story misspelled Dr Cies' name; it has been corrected.
Typical Santa Fe style - spell a person's name more than 1 way in such a short article. Is it Ceis or Sies?
Lucia Cies, MD
Bless the good doctors gorgeous heart. Thank You doctor Cies for doing a thankless job- but a crucial one as all women know. I salute you from all corners of my consciousness.