SALON

Friday, Feb 1, 2013 5:06 PM UTC

Mississippi’s last abortion clinic hangs in the balance

The state is attempting to revoke the clinic's license, citing noncompliance with a 2012 law for abortion providers

By

Topics: Abortion, reproductive health, Reproductive Rights, Mississippi, ,

Mississippi's last abortion clinic hangs in the balance

Last week, the Mississippi Department of Health served the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last remaining abortion provider in the state, a notice of intent to revoke the clinic’s license. According to state officials, the clinic has failed to comply with a 2012 law requiring that all doctors performing abortions at the facility also have hospital admitting privileges, which reproductive health advocates argue is an arbitrary regulation intended to shutter clinics and effectively ban abortion.

The Jackson clinic has applied for admitting privileges with seven area hospitals, but has been rejected each time. State law allows healthcare facilities to refuse any medical service on religious grounds, which extends to granting admitting privileges, leading critics to conclude that the denials are politically motivated.

And, of course, they are.

Mississippi state lawmakers have been systematically scaling back women’s access to abortion services for years, but 2012′s Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law could be the measure that succeeds in shuttering the state’s last standing clinic, making it virtually abortion-free.

The clinic will remain open while it waits for a hearing by the state’s health department, which is expected to be announced any day now. As reported by the Clarion Ledger:

It has 10 calendar days to make the request to the Department of Health. Afterward, the department has 30 calendar days in which to set a hearing, said department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot.

The hearing will be open to the public and conducted by a hearing officer appointed by the department. The officer may or may not issue an immediate decision, Sharlot said.

In the meantime, attorneys for the Jackson clinic have requested a temporary injunction to block the law’s enforcement while it argues its constitutionality. If clinic lawyers fail to get an injunction, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization could close its brilliantly pink doors for good, leaving the women of Mississippi — 40 years after Roe v. Wade — with no means of accessing their constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion.

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 7 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations