State's Only Abortion Clinic Shuts Down Permanently

The Mississippi abortion clinic at the heart of the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade is closing its doors for good. Wednesday was the last day that the Jackson Women's Health Organization, known as the Pink House, was allowed to legally perform abortions in the state, NBC reports. The clinic, the only one of its kind in the state, will close permanently after a few follow-up appointments on Thursday. Dale Gibson, one of the volunteers who escorted patients past anti-abortion rights protesters, put signs on the clinic's fence Wednesday saying, "The fight is not over" and "This is not the end."

MIssissippi's "trigger law" banned almost all abortions following a 10-day window after the state attorney general certified the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. The case was brought by the clinic to challenge a 2018 Mississippi law that banned most abortions after 15 weeks. Clinic owner Diane Derzis tells the AP that she doesn't regret filing the lawsuit. "We didn’t have a choice. And if it hadn’t been this lawsuit, it would have been another one," says Derzis, who plans to open a new Pink House in New Mexico. (More abortion stories.)