Jackson Women’s Health Organization Director Shannon Brewer (right) and The Pink House defenders spoke hour after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade (Pictures: Jackson Women’s Health Organization/AP)
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade has had reverberations across the US and world, but perhaps nowhere has it hit harder than at The Pink House, the only abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi.
Situated in Jackson, The Pink House was at the center of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which the court on Friday ruled 6-3 in favor of Mississippi. The court allowed the state to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, effectively striking down its landmark 1973 Roe ruling that granted a constitutional right to the procedure.
The clinic kept its doors open – with Pink House Defenders volunteers escorting women past pro-life protesters – even as it braced for the court’s decision, which was leaked in the state’s favor in May.
Mississippi is one of 13 states with a so-called trigger law, meaning abortion access will be banned almost immediately with the Roe reversal. That means The Pink House will be forced to shutter in a matter of days.
‘The law in Mississippi says we have 10 days to remain in business from the moment the Attorney General signs the certification,’ Diane Derzis, owner of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, said during a press conference outside the clinic on Friday afternoon.
‘I would bet money that that certification was waiting in the office today. So that means that we will be open for the next 10 days, and we will be seeing patients for the next 10 days.’
Asked what will become of The Pink House if and when staff leave, as well as what it stands for, Derzis told Metro.co.uk: ‘The Pink House, while it’s a wonderful building, is just a building’.
The people… will continue because that’s our spirit,’ she said. ‘That’s what we do. We do abortion.’
Dervis concluded: ‘The Pink House – we’ll have pink houses all over this country.’
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