As lawsuit expected to be dismissed, abortion advocates discuss access for Mississippians

The Mississippi Center for Justice has filed to dismiss their lawsuit against the state on the grounds that the Jackson Women’s Health Organization no longer has plans to reopen their abortion clinic regardless of the case’s outcome. The deadline for the courts to respond to the motion is today, ending the ongoing effort to preserve abortion rights in the state. Tyler Hardin is the State Director for Planned Parenthood Southeast.

“I think that this is just the beginning of the fight,” says Hardin. “We’ve seen in places like Texas and different states across the country where there are continuing to be plenty of legal challenges of what does it mean to not have access to abortion in the state and what does it mean for pregnant people and what does personhood mean at this moment.”

Although nearly all abortions have been banned in Mississippi, residents can go to other states where abortion remains legal. But since the Dobbs decision, surrounding states have also undergone a legal back-and-forth on abortion access. Hardin says a lawsuit in Louisiana has paused that state’s abortion ban, and if someone seeking an abortion can travel, there are clinics operating in Florida and Illinois.

Hardin says “With the everchanging landscape, one day you can go to Georgia, the next day you can’t. So there’s just a lot of confusion there and there’s a lot of resentment from folks in our communities around the change that our state lawmakers have decided to play with our lives.”

Hardin says there are several reproductive health funds across the Southeast that are seeking to financially assist those in need of an abortion.