Mississippi's only abortion clinic may move to New Mexico if Roe is overturned
Mississippi's lone abortion clinic, the Jackson Women's Health Organization, will continue to offer services if Roe v. Wade is overturned, with director Shannon Brewer vowing to "fight for women regardless."
The clinic is at the center of the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which deals with the constitutionality of the 2018 Mississippi state law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. On Monday night, Politico reported on a leaked draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, which would strike down Roe, the decision that guarantees a federal constitutional right to abortion.
During an interview Tuesday with NBC News, Brewer said the clinic is operating as usual, but if forced to cut back services or shut down, they will likely reopen in New Mexico. Most of the clinic's patients are already parents and living in poverty, she said, and if Roe is overturned, "It's going to affect women who need it the most. It's not going to affect women who have the means financially to be able to get an abortion anywhere. They will still have access some type of way. That's what devastates me. The ones who need it the most are the ones who will be affected."
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Ever since Texas enacted a law last year banning abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, there has been a surge in patients from surrounding states, who now have to travel farther to undergo the procedure. "We've watched so much change just because of Texas," Brewer told NBC News. "You multiply that times 20, that's going to be detrimental. You're going to see an uptick in hospitalizations. You're going to see an uptick in women doing things that are unsafe."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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