Policy Work
The SWLC works in partnership with organizations that represent the people most affected by the lack of a policy. We also participate in national coalitions and partnerships to advance our work.
2019-Present —
PFML
The SWLC leads the Paid Family and Medical Leave Coalition in advocating for a statewide policy. We will continue to work on behalf of New Mexico workers.
2020—
Pregnant Worker Rights
Together with our partners, we successfully advocated for the Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act.
2021 —
Reproductive Rights
After an outdated abortion ban failed to be repealed in 2019, the SWLC worked with partners to survey Native Americans on their experiences with reproductive healthcare and their views and beliefs. The results showed 89% believed in body sovereignty, which we used to successfully advocate for the outdated ban to be repealed.
The SWLC worked with allies to successfully advocate for a Paid Sick Leave policy, an increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), and for eligible pharmacists with prescriptive authority to dispense contraception in New Mexico.
2023-2024 —
Early Childhood Impact
The SWLC joined forces with partners to successfully advocate for increased funding for early childhood education, especially to raise wages for early childhood professionals and maintain $0 copays for families receiving child care assistance.
Reproductive Rights
The SWLC worked with reproductive health partners to successfully advocate for HB7, Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Act, and SB13. The bills strengthen protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care and reproductive health providers
Racial equity and elevating the voices of those most affected are central to our mission. We attribute our success to involving those most impacted by these challenges in shaping the solutions.
Protecting Reproductive Healthcare
In 2021, the SWLC joined our partners in The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, in compiling the groundbreaking report on the deceptive practices of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
The SWLC works with reproductive partners around the state to ensure abortion remains accessible and legal, and educates on the dangers anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers pose to women’s health. For more information, visit our Reproductive Rights and Justice page.
Your Impact. Their Future.
Your impact: immediate.
The Southwest Women’s Law Center focuses on issues that impact women and girls around reproductive rights, economic security, and gender discrimination.
We fight for policies that lift women and their families from poverty, including pay equity, paid family and medical leave, and pregnant worker accommodation.
Stand with us. Together we can forge a future of equality, safety, and freedom for all women.
