The abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court’s monumental decision to cede abortion rights to the states has officially closed its doors after an unsuccessful legal battle.
A Jackson women’s health organization went out of business after a Mississippi judge on Tuesday denied its request to block the state’s trigger law banning abortions from going into effect.
“We think this order is absolutely outrageous and wrong,” said Hilary Schneller, senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, who was part of the team that argued the case in court Tuesday.
“Today was the first day abortion was criminalized in Mississippi for the first time in 50 years as the trigger ban went into effect.”
An abortion clinic security guard and abortion rights protesters confront an anti-abortion demonstrator outside the Women’s Health Organization in Jackson, on the last day of abortions before the clinic closes for good, in Jackson, Miss., on July 6. (Liliana Salgado/Reuters)
As Mississippi’s only abortion facility, the clinic was serving patients until Wednesday as tensions flared between protesters on both sides of the issue outside the building.
Justice Debra Halford explained that the Mississippi Supreme Court, not the local court, is the body that decides questions of constitutionality, as she denied the last-minute push. But the battle may not be over.
“So, actually minutes ago, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Mississippi Center for Justice and the law firm Paul, Weiss, which represents the clinic, filed a petition with the Mississippi Supreme Court asking for emergency relief to correct the district court’s order and allow of the clinic to resume service,” Schneller told Yahoo News.
In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade as part of its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, concluding that abortion is not a constitutional right. It gave states the power to limit the procedure. More than a dozen had already passed “trigger laws” to implement immediate bans.
Jackson Women’s Health, Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, has closed. (Kathleen Flynn/Reuters)
Dr. Cheryl Hamlin is one of several doctors who rotate shifts at the “Pink House,” nicknamed Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization. She worked at the clinic until Tuesday night helping patients, and returned Wednesday for the last procedures the clinic could perform, according to NBC News.
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“I’m sure the women who manage to get out of state to get [the] procedure when they return they will be afraid to seek medical help. Some people will self-abort. Some people will proceed dangerously [pregnancies]so I mean it’s obviously devastating for these women,” Hamlin told NBC’s Lester Holt.
“Illinois is probably the closest state. I mean, I think the nearest clinic is probably a seven hour drive or something. New Mexico is about a 10 hour drive away. Massachusetts is 22 hours away by car.”
Diane Derzis, owner of Pink House, plans to move the clinic to Las Cruces, NM Hamlin is expected to follow. They expect to begin serving patients there in about two weeks. But they know it will be a challenge for women remaining in Mississippi to find services elsewhere.
Betty Thompson has worked for the Jackson Women’s Health Organization as a counselor for 25 years. She talks about her work with the clinic in a video with StoryCorps, an outlet that creates and shares human interest stories.
“We know we’re the only clinic in Mississippi and we’re needed, and that’s why I’m here,” she said.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, stressed that the state’s abortion bans went into effect on July 7 and welcomed Halford’s decision.
“This legislation has the potential to save the lives of thousands of unborn children in Mississippi,” Reeves said. “This is a big win for life. I also believe it is extremely important to show each mother and child that they are loved and that their communities will support them. We still have a lot of work to do. Every life has inherent dignity, and Mississippi will continue to do everything it can to advance the fight for life.”
For Schneller, this is not just a fight for Mississippi, but a fight for all states with abortion bans.
Patients rush past protesters leaving the Pink House after the US Supreme Court ruled on the abortion case Dobbs v. Women’s Health. (Gabriella Borter/Reuters)
“Clinics in Arkansas, Alabama and Texas and throughout the region were forced to stop providing abortion services. Mississippi was able to stay open for several weeks after the US Supreme Court decision,” she said.
“Now that it has been forced to close, it is no longer a haven for patients coming from all over the South, and now Mississippians will have to cross multiple state lines to access abortion care. I can’t put into words how devastating and chaotic the next few days, the next few months and years will be for people trying to seek abortion care. Many of these people will not be able to leave the state to try to access care and will be forced by their government to endure the risks of pregnancy and childbirth.
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