Mississippi's only abortion clinic stays open, for now

Jackson Women's Health Organization owner Diane Derzis, poses at the gate of Mississippi's only abortion clinic in Jackson, Miss., Monday, July 2, 2012, after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Sunday, that blocked enforcement of a law that could regulate it out of business. / AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

(CBS/AP) JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi's only abortion clinic is open after a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a law the clinic says could regulate it out of business.

The owner of Jackson Women's Health Organization says it was "business as usual" on Monday. Abortion opponents prayed outside.

Federal judge blocks Mississippi anti-abortion law

"Mississippi is still part of this country and still does have to abide by the Constitution," Diane Derzis told reporters inside the clinic as several abortion opponents prayed and sang hymns outside.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan issued a temporary restraining order Sunday to stop Mississippi from enforcing a law requiring any physician doing abortions at the clinic to be an OB-GYN with privileges to admit patients to a local hospital. The order came the same day the law was to take effect.

Because of the judge's order, the state Health Department canceled an inspection it originally planned to do Monday to see if the clinic is complying with the new law, a department spokeswoman said.

The two physicians who do abortions at the clinic have applied for hospital privileges but haven't been granted them. Derzis said she doesn't expect them to be given the access, partly because she believes hospitals don't want abortion protesters outside on their sidewalks.

The clinic filed a federal lawsuit June 27, challenging the law's constitutionality, with the help of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

"The opponents of reproductive rights in the Mississippi legislature have made no secret of their intent to make legal abortion virtually disappear in the state of Mississippi," said the center's president and CEO, Nancy Northup, earlier this week about the law. "Their hostility toward women, reproductive health care providers, and the rights of both would unquestionably put the lives and health of countless women at risk of grave harm."

Jordan will hear arguments July 11 about extending his block of the law.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) has been vocal about how he wants Mississippi to be "abortion-free." Back in April, he explained to Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on the conservative's radio show why he signed the law.

"The hypocrisy of the left that now tried to kill this bill, that says that I should have never signed it, the true hypocrisy is that their one mission in life is to abort children, is to kill children in the womb," Bryant said.

Derzis said the clinic was busier than usual last week because some patients thought they wouldn't be able to get an abortion in Mississippi if the new law were in effect starting this week. She said the patients were "absolutely aware" of the law.

"They were insistent that they been seen," she said.

Neither of the physicians who do abortions at the clinic was working Monday, but Derzis said that was normal for the first day of the business week. Clinic employees were taking calls from prospective patients.

With temperatures above 90 degrees, some abortion opponents carried large umbrellas for shade as they stood Monday outside the clinic in the Fondren neighborhood. Among them were members of the groups Pro-Life Mississippi and Personhood Mississippi.

Some carried signs with slogans such as "Let us help you love your baby" and "It's easy to be pro `choice' when you're not the one being killed."

One of the abortion opponents was Melissa Steen, 25, who lives in the Jackson suburb of Pearl.

Steen she had an abortion at the clinic in August 2007, when she was in an abusive relationship. She said her boyfriend threatened to hurt her unless she ended the pregnancy. Now, Steen said, she goes to the clinic often to try to persuade women not to have abortions.

"It's something that I live with, but I regret it," Steen said. "Sometimes at night, I will go outside and sit in my driveway and look at the stars and cry."

The abortion opponents prayed and sang "We Shall Overcome" and hymns such as "Amazing Grace" and "It Is Well With My Soul." They could be seen and heard through the tinted windows as Derzis talked to reporters.

"This is life in America for a woman seeking an abortion now," Derzis said inside the clinic's waiting area. "It's not just Jackson, Miss. These here may be a little crazier than some other places. But this is the reality of a patient having an abortion in this country today, is she is going to most likely cross a picket line. She is going to be screamed at, harassed."

According to the Guttmacher Institute, Missisippi has a relatively low abortion rate compared to the national average: 4.6 abortions for every 1,000 women, compared to 19.6 for every 1,000 women nationwide.

[knewsteerrrrr]

Im real GLAD the clinic is still open to help legally and safely correct the mistakes illprepared women sometimes make, we certainly don't need MORE unwanted mouths on this planet born to women who dont WANT THEM, and who have little finances and certainly can't afford them!

[DCCorruption]

Mississippi and states like it are an embarrassment to this country. Religion belongs in the church, not in our laws.

[Lindag20]

Abortion opponents "prayed and sang hymns"... If they REALLY wanted to stop someone from having an abortion why don't they SIGN a contract with the woman agreeing to feed, clothe, house and educate the unborn child they're so concerned about?

[DCCorruption]

Because in reality, they don't give a damn about the baby. They just want to force their religion upon those who don't have the same belief system. It's a form of control over others and there are people who will jump at the chance to try to control others (tea party, GOP and libertarians).

[knewsteerrrrr]

Exactly! and if their god really disliked abortions, he/she/it would have prevented the ability to have one. In any case, this god fiend KNEW these women would have these abortions, and yet, amazingly allowed the fetus to begin developing knowing full well it would never see the light of day, so instead of just causing a miscarriage early on, or an infertility, he/she/it stands by and lets it develop anyway, what a screwball!

[pennypickle12]

Yes, thank you judge for allowing women to continue to have ill-prepared, poorly trained, health care providers (who may or may not be physicians) perform a medical prodcedure on women. I doubt the Judge would want an abortion perform on a family member or loved one by someone who wasn't board-certified. Sort of like the non-board certified physician (who wasn't even an OB-GYN) who provided abortions in his two multi-million dollar abortion clinics in Philadelphia. Women deserve the best health care for this medical procedure, not the worst.

[DCCorruption]

So, are you backing women's rights for abortions? Since this is the only clinic left that is open in the backwards state of Mississippi, you should be happy that women at least have an option in that state. Personally, I can't fathom why anybody would want to live there with all of the backwards yaaaahoos running the state into the ground.

[pennypickle12]

Abortion is legal in this country. Women should have access to the highest quality care provided by well-trained, board-certified physicians regardless of the reason for the visit. I wouldn't want some nonboard-certified radiologist reading my mammogram of a nonboard-certified pathologist determining if my tumor was malignant or benign. I believe that if we are concerned about women's rights then we should all be fighting for their right to have the highest quality health care. I wouldn't want to die from sepsis because some non-OB trained physician or nurse practitioner left products of conception in my uterus. Just because someone with an MD behind his/her name is performing the procedure doesn't mean they are adequately trained. Pro-life advocates have a right to protest, it's a guaranteed right, just like the right to abortion. And pro-abortion advocates have the same right. But more importantly, WOMEN have the right to high quality health care for their legally protected procedures. Anyone who is against a board-certified OB-GYN performing a procedure where there is the risk of perforating a woman's uterus risking infection or damaging her cervix so that she becomes cannot get pregant in the future, doesn't care about women's health at all. That's no different than a back-alley abortion, it's just a legal back-alley abortion.

[afmcalax]

Here are the true facts:
1. Mississippi is one of the least educated states in the nation
2. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation
3. Mississippi has the largest percentage of people without health insurance in the nation
4. Mississippi has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation
5. Mississippi has one of the weakest social and economic support systems in the nation

If Mississippi wants to remain #1 in stupidity, poverty, ill-health; and teen pregnancy keep following the ignorance of your politicians and evangelists that keep you firmly rooted there.

[lilchris09]

Totally agree. The government needs to stay out of the woman's uterus! Men in Washington should have ZERO say what a woman does with her body. I am against women using abortion as birth control, having 2-3 a year....but that is not always the case. Government needs to back the hell off.

[scottpatrick1234]

A woman who makes her living by killing unborn human beings. I can't believe this happens in the U.S.A.

[KPeters_from_UK]

It is the law.

[afmcalax]

A woman who is giving a legal alternative to other women who can probably cannot support themselves; much less another person. This is a state that does not support its women; but impoverishes them with their archaic mandates. These are comments from the typical male sexist who gets joy out of trying to control what women think and do. I hope the women of Mississippi sue the state for adequate child support since they think they can infringe on their rights. Maybe a couple BILLION to ensure these women and the children they are forced to have get adequate housing, food, clothing, and educational opportunities.

[swtaprl]

The protests outside the clinic are, in my opinion, appropriate. Offering to assist women with an unwanted pregnancy rather than ending it is what we should do -- it's offering an alternative and support. Making abortions illegal WILL NOT stop them -- it will just push them to some back room or alley to be performed by untrained or poorly trained personnel in less-than-ideal conditions, thus jeopardizing the life of the mother too. Is that really what we want? Isn't that what we had to deal with years ago, before Roe v Wade?

[DCCorruption]

There are those who would call it harassment. How would you like it if you went to the doctor to have a tumor removed, and there were some religious fruit cakes outside saying that the tumor is God's will and that removing it would be against God's will. So, they call you names such as ***** and so on, and then proceed to thump their bibles. There isn't much difference with what is going on in this situation.

[dharry77]

Only 1 comment. Here's my comment. Mississippi is the worst state in the Union.

[joyeamyers]

Have youever been to Mississippi?

[KPeters_from_UK]

Don't need to.

Just reading the stats on Mississippi would make anyone think twice before going there:

It is the second of the least educated, comes first as the poorest state, the lowest wages for women, receives the most Federal monies, has the highest unemployment rate, has the second lowest rate for health, has one the highest state tax for the poor, the highest teenage pregnancies.....

[lesserof2evil]

thank you judge for putting a stop to these nut cases from trampling on women's right to abortion.