The last abortion clinic in Mississippi, nicknamed The pink house by patients and supporters, has closed its doors after initiating the legal process that led to the Supreme Court’s quashing of Roe v Wade.
“Today is a rough day for all of us @ the last abortion provider in Mississippi,” tweeted the Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s our last day fighting against all odds – to be there when no other provider would or could.
‘We are proud of the work we have done here. Thank you for all your support.’
The Pink House challenged a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The clinic performed the procedure on women up to 16 weeks gestation, but previous Supreme Court rulings allowed abortion through fetal viability at about 24 weeks.
On June 24, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mississippi’s favor in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was The Pink House’s challenge to the state abortion law.
Mississippi’s “trigger law” passed in 2007 went into effect 10 days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, banned abortion after Wednesday and carried sentences of up to 10 years in prison for violations.
Anticipating the trigger law, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization filed a lawsuit to demand a temporary blocking of that legislation. But a judge rejected the petition on Tuesday, saying that delaying the abortion ban “would clearly harm the state and its citizens by denying the public interest in enforcing its laws.”
After the Supreme Court ruling, Pink House owner Diane Derzis said she did not regret filing the lawsuit that ultimately undermined nearly five decades of abortion justice.
“We had no choice,” says Derzis, who lives in Alabama and also has abortion clinics in Georgia and Virginia. “And if it hadn’t been this trial, it would have been another one.”
In the days following the ruling, doctors at The Pink House tried to see as many patients as possible before closing.
And although the clinic stopped providing procedures on Wednesday, pro-choice and pro-life groups still faced The Pink House on Thursday, according to a report. video by the Associated Press†
Derzis on the day Roe was turned back swore that clinic staff continue their mission ‘because that’s our mind, that’s what we do, we do abortion’.
“The Pink House, although it’s a beautiful building, it’s just a building,” Derzis told Metro.co.uk at the time.
“The pink house – we’ll have pink houses all over the country.”
Contact our news team by sending an email to: [email protected]†
For more stories like this, check our news page†