Mississippi’s final abortion clinic CLOSES after Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade 

The only clinic performing abortions in Mississippi, the state at the heart of the US Supreme Court’s historic about-face on women’s reproductive rights, closed its doors Wednesday for the final time.

The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, nicknamed the Pink House because of the building’s colorful walls, performed its last pregnancy-ending procedures before a law banning all abortions goes into effect in the conservative, impoverished state in the US South.

‘Today is a hard day for all of us @ the last abortion provider in Mississippi,’ The Pink House Fund, which raised donations to keep the institution running, posted on Twitter.

‘It is our last day fighting against all the odds — of being there when no other providers would or could. We are proud of the work we have done here.’

Jackson Women’s Health gained international notoriety for having triggered the legal process that eventually led to the US Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that had enshrined the nationwide right to abortion in the United States.

Derenda Hancock (left) co-director of the organization clinic patient hugs Sonnie Bane, a tearful abortion rights supporter on July 6, 2022

Abortion rights activists rallied  outside the clinic on the final day before the clinic permanently closed on July 6

Abortion rights activists rallied  outside the clinic on the final day before the clinic permanently closed on July 6

The Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only clinic performing abortions in the state of Mississippi, has closed following the Supreme Court's historic overturning of the 1973 ruling that enshrined the right to abortion in the United States

The Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only clinic performing abortions in the state of Mississippi, has closed following the Supreme Court’s historic overturning of the 1973 ruling that enshrined the right to abortion in the United States

Dr. Cheryl Hamlin speaks with reporters outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic. Hamlin is one of a rotating group of physicians that provided abortions at the clinic

Dr. Cheryl Hamlin speaks with reporters outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic. Hamlin is one of a rotating group of physicians that provided abortions at the clinic

Anti-abortion activist E.C. Smith, paces outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic with his message sign in Jackson, Monday, June 27, 2022

Anti-abortion activist E.C. Smith, paces outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic with his message sign in Jackson, Monday, June 27, 2022

The Supreme Court ruling was in a case called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the clinic’s challenge of a 2018 Mississippi law to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. The Pink House had been doing abortions through 16 weeks, but under previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings, abortion was allowed to the point of fetal viability, about 24 weeks.

Mississippi’s top public health official, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, was named in the lawsuit, but has not taken a public position on the case. The state’s Republican attorney general urged justices to use the case to overturn Roe v. Wade and give states more power to regulate or ban abortion.

With the case, the high court — which has shifted to the right with the appointment of three conservative justices by president Donald Trump — gave each state the freedom to ban or maintain the legality of abortions within their borders.

Thirteen states, anticipating the seismic shift by the court, passed trigger laws designed to take effect immediately after the overturning of Roe v Wade.

Mississippi’s law, passed in 2007, carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison for violations, and provides exceptions only in cases of danger to the life of the mother — but not for rape or incest.

The Pink House had asked local courts to block the law, but they refused, leaving the clinic with no choice but to close.

With most neighboring states equally hostile to abortion, women in Mississippi who wish to end a pregnancy will have to resort to using abortion-inducing pills or traveling in some cases hundreds of miles (kilometers) to have an abortion in states like Illinois.

Cars with license plates from Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas have been driving through Jackson’s Fondren neighborhood to bring women and girls — some of whom appeared to be teenagers — to the Pink House. Drivers parked on side streets near the clinic in the shade of pink and purple crepe myrtles, their car air-conditioners blasting as they waited.

When Dr. Cheryl Hamlin, who has traveled from Boston for five years to perform abortions, walked outside the Pink House, an abortion opponent used a bullhorn to yell at her.

“Repent! Repent!” Doug Lane shouted at her.

His words were drowned out by abortion rights supporter Beau Black, who repeatedly screamed at Lane: “Hypocrites and Pharisees! Hypocrites and Pharisees!”

Clinic escorts use party horns and whistles to counter the presence of an anti-abortion activist

Clinic escorts use party horns and whistles to counter the presence of an anti-abortion activist

An abortion clinic security guard and abortion rights protesters confront an anti-abortion protester outside on the final day when abortions are carried out, before the clinic permanently closes

An abortion clinic security guard and abortion rights protesters confront an anti-abortion protester outside on the final day when abortions are carried out, before the clinic permanently closes

Abortion rights supports hold signs outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic. Shannon Brewer, the Pink House director, thinks low-income women will be most affected because they will be unable to get abortions in-state

Abortion rights supports hold signs outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic. Shannon Brewer, the Pink House director, thinks low-income women will be most affected because they will be unable to get abortions in-state

Diane Derzis, who has owned the Mississippi clinic since 2010, drove to Jackson to speak at the Pink House hours after the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

“It’s been such an honor and a privilege to be in Mississippi. I’ve come to love this state and the people in it,” Derzis told those gathered in the sweltering heat.

Derzis told The Associated Press after the ruling that she didn’t regret filing the lawsuit that eventually undercut nearly five decades of abortion case law.

“We didn’t have a choice. And if it hadn’t been this lawsuit, it would have been another one,” said Derzis, who also owns abortion clinics in Georgia and Virginia, and lives in Alabama.

Shannon Brewer, the Pink House director, thinks low-income women will be most affected because they will be unable to get abortions in-state. 

Derzis and Brewer will soon open an abortion clinic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, about an hour’s drive from El Paso, Texas, — calling it Pink House West. Hamlin said she is getting licensed in New Mexico so she can work there. 

Home to a Democratic-led legislature and governor, New Mexico recently took an extra step to protect providers and patients from out-of-state prosecutions. It’s likely to continue to see a steady influx of people seeking abortions from neighboring states with more restrictive abortion laws. 

Elsewhere in the country, several other facilities have gone out of business.

One of the largest abortion providers in Texas, Whole Woman’s Health, announced Wednesday that it is also planning to reopen in New Mexico in a city near the state line, to provide first- and second-trimester abortions.

It began winding down operations in Texas after a ruling Friday by the state Supreme Court that forced an end to abortions at its four clinics. 

Missouri’s only clinic performing abortions, operated by Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, also stopped all such procedures as of June 23.

Legal battles have delayed the end date in Louisiana, for example, but ultimately abortion access is expected to disappear in about half of the country’s 50 states.

The 26 states where abortion will likely become illegal now Supreme Court has overturned Roe vs Wade

The 26 states where abortion will likely become illegal if SCOTUS overturns Roe vs Wade after leaked draft opinion showed a majority of justices supported the move

The 26 states where abortion will likely become illegal if SCOTUS overturns Roe vs Wade after leaked draft opinion showed a majority of justices supported the move

More than half of all US states have some kind of abortion ban law likely to take effect now that Roe v Wade has been overturned by the United States Supreme Court. 

According to the pro-reproductive rights group The Guttmacher Institute, there are 26 states that will likely make abortions illegal now that the Supreme Court has overturned the landmark 1973 ruling.

18 have existing abortion bans that have previously been ruled unconstitutional, four have time limit bans and four are likely to pass laws once Roe v Wade is overturned, the organization found.

The 18 states that have near-total bans on abortion already on the books are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

In addition, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and South Carolina all have laws that ban abortions after the six-week mark. 

Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska, are likely to pass bills when Roe v Wade is overturned, the Guttmacher Institute said.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin’s bans all have pre-Roe v Wade laws that became unenforceable after the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision – that would kick into effect now the federal legal precedent established in Roe has been overturned.

Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Texas have further bans that will come into effect if the law was overturned. These were passed post-Roe v Wade.

They’re joined by Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming, in passing such laws. 

The states that will limit abortions based on the length of time a patient has been pregnant are Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota and Ohio.

There are four states that have laws that state abortion is not a constitutionally protected right: Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia. 

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