The Jackson clinic, the last to perform abortions in the state of Mississippi, closed its doors on Wednesday, July 6, after having exhausted all possible remedies. Known as the “Pink House”, it was the instigator of the lost lawsuit against the State of Mississippi, which gave the Supreme Court the opportunity to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
The only clinic performing pregnancy terminations in the state of Mississippi, at the heart of the Roe vs. Wade revocation, closed on Wednesday, July 6 for the final time.
The establishment nicknamed “the Pink House” because of the color of its walls, carried out its last interventions before the entry into force, Thursday, July 7, of a law prohibiting all abortions in this conservative southern state.
Strict laws in conservative states
The establishment had become known because it was at the initiative of the lost lawsuit against the State of Mississippi, concerning a law which reduced the legal deadlines for abortion. The Supreme Court used this case to give each state the freedom to cancel or ban abortions on their soil by overturning the Roe vs. Wade decision.
Thirteen states had anticipated this change and passed laws designed to go directly into effect. The Mississippi law, adopted in 2007, provides for penalties of up to ten years in prison for violations. An exception exists in case of danger to the life of the mother but not for rape or in case of incest. The “Pink House” had asked the local justice to block this law but the courts refused, leaving it no other choice but to close.
With most neighboring states being equally conservative and anti-abortion, women in Mississippi will have to travel hundreds of miles to have an abortion in Illinois.