Скачать или смотреть Mississippi focus of SCOTUS abortion case

(24 May 2021) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4327451

The bright pink building in an eclectic neighborhood of Mississippi's capital goes by different names. To the anti-abortion protesters whose demonstrations have sparked a noise ordinance, it is an "abortion mill." To those who work and volunteer there, the facility known as the "pink house," providing the last safe haven in Mississippi for women who choose to have an abortion.
Now, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi is facing what could be its biggest challenge.
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear arguments this fall over a Mississippi law that would limit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy — a case designed to test how far a court remade under former President Donald Trump is willing to go to restrict the right to an abortion.
The 2018 Mississippi law has been on hold because of the court fight.
If justices allow it to take effect, that wouldn't have a huge impact on who can get an abortion in Mississippi. Health care providers at Jackson Women's Health Organization don't perform abortions after 16 weeks.
But clinic director Shannon Brewer said upholding the ban would prompt lawmakers in conservative states to push to more restrictions.
"I see abortion stigma everywhere in the south. I think that's our biggest hurdle as to why we can't have better access for women. It's because this Bible Belt area, and people making abortion seem like it's not to be talked about. It's not to be discussed. It's this big quiet word that's unheard of when that's not true," Brewer told the Associated Press.
With no doctors in Mississippi willing to do abortions, five out-of-state doctors rotate through Jackson.
Some patients travel hours from small towns in one of the poorest states of the country — first for counseling and then 24 hours later for the abortion.
Outside the clinic, anti-abortion protesters face off against volunteer escorts.
Demonstrators often try to block cars from entering the clinic parking lot. Some pray, sing or hold posters with graphic photos of aborted fetuses. Others climb ladders to look over a fence that surrounds the clinic, yelling at the volunteer escorts who call themselves "pink house defenders" and the patients they accompany inside.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...