Rogelio V. Solis
Mississippi women may have to leave the state to get an abortion starting July 1. A new law passed by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature requires doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at an area hospital. But at the one remaining Mississippi clinic that provides abortions, the three doctors there that perform the procedure say they haven’t been granted the necessary privileges. If that doesn’t change for the doctors of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it may be only a matter of weeks before Mississippi becomes the first state without an abortion clinic. Wendy Parmet, a law professor at Northeastern University, said there’s no “guarantee of access” when it comes to abortion. “States can’t create legal barriers or penalties,” Parmet says, “but they can make it practically really, really difficult.”