Mississippi bill may force state's only abortion clinic to close

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Mississippi bill may force state's only abortion clinic to close
Robbie Ward
Reuters
11:51 p.m. CDT, April 4, 2012

STARKVILLE, Mississippi (Reuters) - The Mississippi state Senate passed a bill on Wednesday to impose new regulations on facilities providing abortions that supporters of the state's only abortion clinic said could force it to close.

The measure, which previously passed in the state House of Representatives, would requires physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and be board certified or eligible in obstetrics and gynecology.
Mississippi's only abortion provider, Jackson Women's Health Organization, said before the vote that it could face closure if the bill becomes law. The clinic's owner, Diane Derzis, has said she would challenge the law in court if it is signed by Republican Governor Phil Bryant.

"This legislation is an important step in strengthening abortion regulations and protecting the health and safety of women," Bryant said in a statement. "As governor, I will continue to work to make Mississippi abortion-free."


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-abortion-mississippibre83405j-20120404,0,210308.story

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[center]

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant[/center]

[uppityperson]

1. Sigh. Protecting the health & safety of women by offering no legal safe hygienic abortion services.

War is Peace.

No you stupid Gov, MS won't be "abortion-free". With enough money, you will be able to find a doctor to give you one. Without that money, women will find others to help them and you can take your "protecting the health and safety of women" bullshit away because more will die.

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. We Should Be Sending Them Coat Hangers.

The only way they are going to get it is if they get personally confronted publicly when they are out and about. I cannot believe the smugness and the viciousness.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. it won't work...

because they do not give a damn.

[LadyHawkAZ]

3. Ooo what a surprise!

Yet another end run around Roe! In a red state! Shocker!

It sure is a good thing that they can't ban abortion, isn't it?

[321Morrow]

4. And that is not good.

I guess more abortions in Tuscaloosa, AL then. Because it is not stopping.

[sakabatou]

6. "[P]rotecting the health and safety of women..."

BULLSHIT!

You're just sucking up to the right-wing, anti-abortion, anti-woman teat that you hungrily suck on!

[GoCubsGo]

20. Never mind all the women who will now have to resort to back room abortions.

So much for their health and safety.

[The Wizard]

7. At some point

the voters of the Confederacy will reach a tipping point and realize their elected officials have to be replaced. It might take a while as the deliberate shortchanging of education funding has produced an electorate that is swayed by emotional issues rather that those of fact and substance. It's just a matter of knowing when they've hit bottom and acknowledging it.

[CanonRay]

11. I can't wait for the year 2652

I'm sure it will be wonderful.

[ck4829]

8. 50th in everything, but hey, no abortions! Great job there Governor!

[JoePhilly]

9. Women need to start leaving states like Mississippi.

[raccoon]

10. That probably isn't an option for lots of women, due to lack of money, don't want to leave family

members, may not be able to find a job somewhere else--let alone one that pays a halfway decent wage and offers medical
insurance.

What you said makes sense but doesn't work well in RL.

[JoePhilly]

15. While I understand that reality, I would also say ...

We are talking about Mississippi. That state is last in pretty much everything.

But I do agree, many women would struggle to escape.

Kathleen Madigan is a hilarious comedian who claims to have a female cousin trapped in some backwards part of the South (I forget which) ... And so Kathleen tells her to "move away" ... and the cousin says "but where would I go?" ... and Kathleen says "here's a map, grab a dart, and throw it".

Her point is that some places are just so bad that you might as well leave because it can't be that much worse somewhere else.

The point about not wanting to leave family is one I know about. I was the first in my family to move away from home. I grew up in the same house my father grew up in. My mother's parents lived about 8 blocks away. When I was about 20, my dad died, and we moved into my grandmothers house, which was the same house my mother had grown up in. My mother lived in that house until she was about 50.

The thing is, leaving to find something better does not mean you can't / won't come back.

First step is deciding that you want / need to leave. Then you start to figure out how to do it. Might not be easy. Might not be quick. Might require some research. Might even require "layovers" ... like when you travel ... your destination might be point X, but you know you have to stop and stay in point Y for a while.

Again, don't intend to make light of this ... but I do think any woman who can determine a path out of those states should seriously consider it.

[provis99]

16. Millions have left Mississippi over the past 150 years.

If not for all the emigration to the North, Mississippi would have a majority black populace, and probably be one of the most progressive states in America.

[JoePhilly]

18. I'm in NC currently, from Philly originally, and have in-laws who ...

had lived in NC for a very long time.

My sister in law had been a teacher in NC for about 20+ years. Her husband was from Mississippi. He had struggled to maintain work in NC. So he decided they should move back to Mississippi. Sold their NC home.

She gave up lots of seniority in the move. They got there, and he continued to struggle (he's not an easy person to work with).

So she's making less, he's making less, and she's telling us that the state is so backwards that she is terrified. I'd normally say that she is "extremely conservative" ...but she found Mississippi scary.

They stayed about 2 years ... then moved back to NC. They now live in my wife's parent's house. My sister in law is not happy about moving back in with her parents, but she is thrilled to be out of Mississippi.

[pitohui]

21. "start"? women and other people been leaving mississippi since the civil war era

why do you assume that people in the south just sit around and twiddle their thumbs? mississippi does NOT have a large population, and it has what it has at this point in history only because it has a very low cost of living

[jzodda]

12. All Dems should move to another state

All progressives and independents too. Let the right wackos be the only ones left. If I could afford it I would offer everybody there a place to live in NY. Places like that and Alabama will never change. They may change their party affiliation over the decades but they still have their white hoods in the closet.

[enlightenment]

13. Pretty broad brush you're wielding there.

Which is it? The people in the state - who vote - or the state in its entirety?

If there are 'progressives and independents' there, then one must presume they do not have 'white hoods in the closet'.

I would strongly suspect that not every conservative in the state has a 'white hood', either, despite your perception.

Please consider rewording your post. It is offensive.

[noiretextatique]

14. the face of patriarchy

in america. overwhlemingly white, rich, and male, and eager to make america just like Gilead in "the handmaiden's tale."

[Sgent]

17. Depending on how the law is written

I really have limited problems with this.

All doctors are expected to have admitting privlidges (or formal coverage by another physician) as part of their continuity of care. An abortion is a relatively minor procedure, but complications and issues do happen, and the patient deserves to know that they can achieve continuity of care. Foisting the patient on an ER doc is both bad medicine and unethical.

Forcing the physician to be an OB however is a bit nuts (actually a lot nuts). Mississippi medical practice law does not discriminate -- a doctor, is a doctor, is a doctor whether doing brain surgery or seeing a cold -- and singling out doctors that perform a specific procedure is wrong. Family practice docs regularly perform C-Sections in the state, but they could not perform an abortion? That's being an asshole.

[JoePhilly]

19. Your last sentence nails it.

Its a very selective implementation, and the intent is clear.