Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s only abortion clinic and the clinic at the heart of the Dobbs v. Jackson suit that ended Roe v. Wade, will perform its last abortion today, and will close its doors forever tomorrow, July 7, 2022.
The legal ruling ending abortion access in Mississippi
The clinic sought a restraining order blocking a Mississippi law that would ban all abortions except for when the pregnant person’s life is in danger, or when the person is pregnant from a rape and makes a report to law enforcement.
In Fordice v. Jackson, the 1998 Mississippi Supreme Court declared that abortion is a right protected under the state’s Constitution. Jackson Women’s argued that this ruling prevented Mississippi’s trigger law from going into effect.
Mississippi Chancery Judge Debbra K. Halford, after beginning Tuesday’s hearing with a prayer, disagreed.
"[The] plain wording of the Mississippi Constitution does not mention abortion," she wrote in an order, and the status of abortion as a protected right under the Mississippi Supreme Court’s prior ruling is "more than doubtful."
It is common for state Constitutions to grant more rights than the U.S. Constitution. When this happens, those rights remain protected at the state level even if they are not protected at the federal level.
Moreover, trial courts cannot overturn state Supreme Court rulings. Only the Mississippi Supreme Court has the authority to overturn the precedent set in Fordice v. Jackson. But as the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in its Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, the law doesn’t exist anymore. And now, lower courts believe they have the authority to ignore binding precedent, and reverse rulings made by higher courts.
The rich history of Jackson Women’s Health
Ann Rose and Susan Hill opened Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 1995, flanked by U.S. Marshalls. A far right terrorist had killed 2 people and wounded 5 more at a Brookline, Massachusetts, clinic just days earlier.
The clinic, painted a pale pink and decorated with bright paintings, was affectionately known as The Pink House.
At the time, there was one other abortion clinic in Mississippi, though at one time there had been four. Terrorist threats and an endless stream of aggressive protesters had shut down the other three. But for almost 30 years, Jackson Women’s and its beloved clinic escorts, who call themselves the Pink House Supporters, kept abortion safe and accessible.
“Jackson Women’s Health Organization still has a place in my heart. During the opening and later years, the women JWHO served were special. Mississippi is still one of the worst states for maternal mortality and providing support for pregnant women. JWHO made their reproductive decisions easier. I fear for what they will have to go through now that the clinic is closed,” said Rose.
As with all abortion clinics across the country, they saved lives. They kept families out of poverty. They empowered pregnant people to finish high school or college, to escape abusers, and to eventually go on to have children in better circumstances.
Susan Hill died of breast cancer in 2010, and the clinic was sold to her dear friend Diane Derzis. Derzis continued the pioneering work that Rose and Hill started, facing increasingly aggressive attacks from far right opponents of choice.
Today, their work and the protection they afforded Mississippians, ends.
“The madness of the Trump regime continues affecting countless millions of those with few resources. The stories will begin stumbling in--the pregnant 10-year-old old told to enjoy her pregnancy and denied an abortion,” Derzis lamented.
With millions of women facing an uncertain health future, anti-choice Republicans are rejoicing.
"I also believe it is critical that we showcase to every mother and child that they are loved and that their communities will support them,” Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said after the ruling.
Tate Reeves has previously shown his love for mothers and children by rejecting Medicaid expansion. Research shows that Medicaid expansion lowers maternal and infant mortality.
The future of abortion in Mississippi
Beginning tomorrow, there will be no legal access to surgical abortion in Mississippi. And with Jackson Women’s closed, even people in need of life-saving surgery may not get the care they need. No one knows if hospital ethics boards will reject requests for surgery to prevent sepsis in the event of a missed miscarriage, or to save the life of the pregnant person when her pregnancy will kill both her and her child. And it’s uncertain whether, without abortion clinics in the state, there will be doctors able and willing to provide abortions even if those abortions gain legal approval.
For millions of people across the country, the bomb of the Supreme Court decision has exploded slowly, with reverberations that are yet to be felt. For some, the aftershocks may come through children and grandchildren who suffer or die in a world where the right to medical privacy is dead. Others will soon learn that, no matter how anti-choice you are or how much you want your pregnancy, you may still be affected by the ruling if you have a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.
“Hold on, world. You’re fixing to have an awakening,” said Derzis.
Diane Derzis and Ann Rose host a reproductive justice podcast, The Hot Flash Report. They’ll be releasing a new episode talking about the closure of the clinic today. Find it here.
