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For eight years, Derenda Hancock has ushered women from their cars to the doors of Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, donning a rainbow vest as she shields them from protesters waving religious pamphlets and shouting “turn back!” through bullhorns.
Ms Hancock, a 62-year-old part-time waitress, grew accustomed to repeated attempts by lawmakers and anti-abortion activists to block access to abortions at the Jackson Women s Health Organization where she leads the clinic s volunteer escorts.
But the future of that access feels threatened like never before after the US Supreme Court thrust the clinic s noisy city block into the centre of the country s contentious debate over abortion rights.
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JACKSON, Miss. The bright pink building in an eclectic neighborhood of Mississippi s capital goes by different names. To the anti-abortion protesters whose demonstrations have sparked a noise ordinance, it is an “abortion mill.” To those who work and volunteer there, the facility known as the “pink house” provides the last safe haven in Mississippi for women who choose to have an abortion.
Now, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi is facing what could be its biggest challenge. The U.S. Supreme Court said May 17 that it will hear arguments this fall over a Mississippi law that would limit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy a case designed to test how far a court remade under former President Donald Trump is willing to go to restrict the right to an abortion.
FOR THE first time since 1973, the Supreme Court will decide whether a broad abortion ban not just a regulation restricting its availability, funding, or method is legal.
Mississippi s last abortion clinic faces challenges from Supreme Court, protesters in Fondren Emily Wagster Pettus
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JACKSON, Miss. The bright pink building in an eclectic neighborhood of Mississippi s capital goes by different names. To the anti-abortion protesters whose demonstrations have sparked a noise ordinance, it is an “abortion mill.” To those who work and volunteer there, the facility known as the “pink house” provides the last safe haven in Mississippi for women who choose to have an abortion.
Now, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi is facing what could be its biggest challenge. The U.S. Supreme Court said May 17 that it will hear arguments this fall over a Mississippi law that would limit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy a case designed to test how far a court remade under former President Donald Trump is willing to go to restrict the right to an abortion.