October Newsletter
Third Quarter of Practical Support
By the Numbers: This illustrates how many folks we’ve helped from each state this quarter!
This year we've assisted 558 individuals in accessing abortion care so far. In the third quarter of 2024, we helped 175 individuals from 7 different states; 154 from Texas, 12 from New Mexico, 5 from Arizona, 1 from California, 1 from Utah, 1 from Georgia and 1 from Florida. Our abortion fund provides essential support—including flights, cash assistance, lodging, rideshares, meals, emotional support and so much more. Nearly 90% of the people we assist come from Texas. Since the passage of SB8 in 2021 and the Dobbs decision in 2022, traveling to New Mexico has become the only option for many to receive abortion care. That is why we remain committed to advancing our mission to empower every individual we serve to claim their right to bodily autonomy.
Our faith teaches us to care for one another and be compassionate, specially in difficult and vulnerable situations. One of the most important parts of our program is providing a safe experience to all our callers. We want to continue to keep our program and our callers safe and thriving, but we can’t do it without you. Your donation provides tools and resources that most can’t receive in their home states. Our power and safety have never come from the State Capitol, White House or the Supreme Court. Our power comes from us: our love, our roots, our values, and our resistance. Your fearless monthly donation will make sure we can do what we’ve always done: support people in navigating barriers to abortion and creating a world where we care for each other.
#SayHerName: Amber Thurman and Candi Miller - The Racialized Death Toll of Abortion Bans
Amber Thurman with her son at the beach.
Amber Nicole Thurman was 28 years old, and a proud, single mother to a 6-year-old son. She was a medical assistant who intended to enroll in nursing school. Amber was healthy and thriving, until a poorly timed twin pregnancy and a statewide abortion ban, kept doctors from providing the care needed to save her life. They waited twenty hours to provide her with care, but by then it was too late. Amber's organs had begun to fail, ultimately leading to her death.
Candi Miller with her husband and kids.
Candi Miller was a 41-year-old mother of three. When she found herself pregnant in the fall of 2022, she was grappling with a host of serious health conditions, including lupus, diabetes and hypertension. If she had another baby, doctors warned these conditions would put her life at risk. Because of “current legislation on pregnancies and abortions,” she didn’t seek outside medical care. Following days of extreme pain, she passed away at home due to complications from a self-managed abortion, too fearful to seek medical help.
Georgia and the United States’ Black Maternal Health Crisis
As brought to light by ProPublica, Amber and Candi’s deaths signify the first documented, preventable loss of life resulting from an abortion ban. Georgia, where they both resided, is one of 25 states that received an 'F' grade from the annual review: The State of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: A 50-State Report.
For a moment there was a glimmer of hope. Shortly after these stories broke, a Georgia lower court judge, Robert McBurney, ruled that the state’s abortion ban went against a person’s constitutional right to liberty and privacy. Georgians briefly celebrated increased access. But just a week later, the state’s Attorney General, Chris Carr, appealed the ruling, reinstating the original extreme ban.
Lifting of restrictions could have saved both Amber and Candi’s lives.
These injustices are a stark reminder that state-sanctioned, racialized, and gendered violence can take many forms. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. And while abortion bans adversely affect people of all backgrounds, intersectional oppressions can place the burden of seeking out-of-state care on some more than others. Lack of access to support systems like paid time off, transportation, or childcare can lead to dangerous delays in receiving necessary help. In practice, these burdens can mean the difference between life and death.
Criminalization is no moral solution
We mourn the premature and devastating loss of both Candi and Amber, and we share in the grief felt by their families who lost a mother, a sister, a partner, a daughter, too soon.
Georgia’s maternal mortality review committee is only recently investigating deaths from the few months following the overturning of Roe. In addition to Georgia, 40 other states have some form of abortion ban in place. With this we know: there are more names to be named.
#SayHerName: Amber Nicole Thurman.
#SayHerName: Candi Miller.
Policing bodies is not a moral solution. Amber and Candi’s deaths were preventable. May speaking their names help us to remember the spiritual path forward is one of compassion and care, not control and coercion.
“Once we see them, we cannot unsee them.” Kimberlé Crenshaw, African American Policy Forum (AAPF) Executive Director
Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15th to October 15th, is a time to honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of people of Latinx and Spanish heritage. It's an opportunity to reflect on the intersections of reproductive justice, racial justice, language justice, and immigration justice as Latinxs make up a significant portion of the immigrant population in the United States.
How does immigration justice intersect with reproductive justice?
Historically Latinxs have faced significant barriers to reproductive justice, including forced sterilization. In the 1930s, doctors in Puerto Rico coerced women into sterilization, misleading them to believe it was the only form of contraception. In the 1960's and 1970's Mexican women in Los Angeles were forcibly sterilized during c-sections. These women didn't find out what had happened to them until a doctor blew the whistle, leading to a class action lawsuit.
These struggles continue today, as Latinx communities, particularly undocumented immigrants, face persistent obstacles to reproductive freedom. Undocumented immigrants living in abortion ban states cannot travel out of state for abortion care in fear of being detained or deported. Check points are literal barriers for undocumented immigrants to access reproductive care. Self-managed abortions have become the only option for care for many Latinxs. Access to abortion pills is crucial for undocumented immigrants, and it’s essential that we continue to advocate for their availability.
Visit Hey Jane with the button below to order abortion pills online and learn more about self managing your abortion.
How does language justice intersect with reproductive justice?
Language barriers have resulted in Spanish-speaking women across the United States being coerced into sterilization, often pressured to sign consent forms provided only in English, with no translation or interpretation offered. It is important we create a safe space for Spanish speakers in our communities by offering our resources in their native language. At Faith Roots, we are committed to offering all our resources in both English and Spanish, as Spanish is one of the top languages used in New Mexico. We believe in embracing each other's native languages rather than suppressing them.
Historically, native languages in New Mexico, including Spanish, have been suppressed to force assimilation. In the past, Spanish was forbidden from being spoken, leading to the loss of the language for many families who have lived in New Mexico for generations. Many were punished and discriminated against for speaking their language. Despite the loss of the Spanish language for many, the culture remains strong and continues to thrive.
Executive Director Leadership Transition
After twenty-five years of impressive growth and progress, the Faith Roots Reproductive Action Board of Directors announces that Executive Director Joan Lamunyon Sanford will be retiring early 2025, pending the successful search for a new Executive Director.
The Faith Roots Board is pleased that Joan will stay-on during the leadership transition as Senior Advisor, to ensure a smooth and effective transition of leadership and institutional knowledge by providing support as needed to the New Executive Director, that will enable Faith Roots to continue to navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing and uncertain future of reproductive health rights and justice.
Delta Management Group, a woman-owned management company offering strategic solutions for professional associations and nonprofit organizations, will manage the search for the new Executive Director.
Born and raised in New Mexico, Joan attended New Mexico State University before she transferred to and graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1984. She worked as an educator for fifteen years before serving as the fourth Executive Director and the first and only full-time non-volunteer Executive Director in the organization’s 46-year history.
During Joan’s 25-year tenure, Faith Root’s has expanded from a local, all volunteer education and advocacy organization to an essential abortion fund caring for thousands of abortion seekers across the country. Annual revenue grew to a projected $1.7 million, its team grew to eleven staff members. Faith Roots (as NM RCRC) led the efforts to organize clergy, lay leaders and congregations as part of the successful 2013 Respect Albuquerque Women campaign to defeat an abortion ban referendum in the city of Albuquerque. They repeated this success in 2021, leading the efforts to organize clergy, lay leaders and congregations when the NM legislature passed the Respect New Mexico Women and Families Act to repeal New Mexico’s 1969 abortion ban.
“Joan Lamunyon Sandford is a woman who has given everything of her wisdom, time and resources in the effort to get every New Mexican to treat all women with respect and dignity, and especially those who face decisions that affect how they will live the rest of their lives. She did it by her example, by her persuasive and factual presentations of the reasons to trust women’s decisions regarding their personal health care. She helped me become a more effective advocate for laws and conditions that will improve all people’s lives. I am forever grateful to her for her effective leadership, her sparkling enthusiasm, and her unending compassion for all humanity. Thank you, Joan, for the gifts you have given to us all throughout your whole career.”, Rev. Carl Boaz, Presbyterian (USA), retired.
“New Mexico is truly the beneficiary of the years Joan Lamunyon Sanford spent advocating for reproductive rights and healthcare justice. Joan played a significant role in making sure that women across New Mexico, and beyond, were the ones who remain in control of making the deeply personal decision about when to become a parent. Joan, you came into our lives, you succeeded, and now you are retiring. Best wishes to you as you enter the next chapter of your life.” Representative Pamelya Herndon, House District 28 – Albuquerque, NM.
Community Events
Bad Faith Screening in Taos
Join us in Taos along the Taos Coalition of Color and the Enchanted Circle Interfaith Gathering for a screening of BAD FAITH on Sunday, October 20th at 12pm at Revolt Gallery Annex (226 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571). We will be hosting a panel discussion after the film featuring special guest, Béalleka—a writer, facilitator, and educator teaching radical empathy in service of Black Liberation. The rest of the panelists will be announced upon confirmation.
Bad Faith Screening in Las Cruces
Join us for a free screening of BAD FAITH at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Las Cruces (2000 S. Solano DR. Las Cruces, NM) on Friday, October 25th at 6:30pm. After the screening, we will host a Q&A session. No registration is required, simply arrive by 6:30 pm. We can't wait to see you there!
Trunk or Treat
Join us on and the rest of the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) Coalition on Saturday, October 19th from 11am to 3pm. Come learn more about the coalition's work on PFML as well as all the organizations work who are part of the coalition. There will be food, candy, games and so much more! We can't wait to see you!