Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Abortion laws creating uncertainty
Abortion clinics are facing protesters while reassuring confused patients that laws have yet to take effect.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Abortion clinics are facing protesters emboldened by a flurry of restrictive new state laws as they reassure confused patients that the laws have yet to take effect, abortion providers said.
“We have actually had many people calling and say, ‘Are you open? Are you still seeing patients? Is abortion now illegal? Will something happen to me if I come for care?’ ” said Dr. Willie Parker, one of two doctors providing abortions at the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville recently.
Last week, Alabama enacted the nation’s strictest abortion law, making performing abortions a felony at any stage of pregnancy with almost no exceptions.
Women who came through the doors held hands with loved ones or curled into chairs as they waited.
It is one of only three abortion clinics in the state, and the only one that provides abortions when a woman is up to 20 weeks pregnant. Some patients drove from neighboring states because of a shortage of clinics.
“Our doors are open, and we continue to be here for women in our communities, and we intend to keep it that way,” said Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician and gynecologist who provides abortions at the clinic.
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have passed laws that prohibit abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected — about six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. Missouri and Louisiana are close to enacting similar bans.
None of the laws has taken effect, and all are expected to be blocked while legal challenges work their way through the courts.
Some lawmakers hope two new conservative justices nominated by President Donald Trump will provide the votes for the Supreme Court to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
That prospect has energized protesters at Mississippi’s only abortion clinic and made them more aggressive, with 100 people gathering on some days singing and waving signs— double the usual number, clinic owner Diane Derzis said. “They know they’re winning, and they don’t care what they need to do,” she said.
POWER House, a group that offers escorts to women seeking abortions in Montgomery, Alabama, for the first time hired an off-duty police officer to watch over escorts and patients because of the attention generated by Alabama’s new abortion law, said Mia Raven, the group’s executive director.
Six anti-abortion protesters gathered outside the Montgomery clinic on a recent day, carrying signs reading “Babies Are Murdered Here” and depicting aborted fetuses.
Abortion opponents disputed the claim that protesters were more aggressive because of the new state laws.
“We have not really had any reports of any heightened activity in the area of protesting of the clinics or anything like that,” said Zemmie Fleck, executive director of Georgia Right To life.