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Mississippi-based non-profit not letting overturn of Roe V. Wade stop outreach

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by Lacey Alexander • Published on • Comments
Pharmacist Simon Gorelikov holds a generic emergency contraceptive at the Health First Pharmacy in Boston on May 2, 2013. Some leaders in states that ban abortions at all points of pregnancy say exceptions for rape or incest victims aren't needed because emergency contraceptives can be used instead. But medical professionals and advocates for rape survivors say that while emergency contraception is a helpful tool, it's not always foolproof, and getting access to these emergency measures in the short timeframe in which they would be effective may not be realistic for someone who has just been assaulted.
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
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A non-profit that partners with family planning clinics across the state is continuing and adding new services despite the overturn of Roe V. Wade.

Lacey Alexander

Mississippi-based non-profit not letting overturn of Roe V. Wade stop outreach

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Converge Access Partners is a non-profit in Mississippi that carries a mission of making sure residents in the state have access to reproductive healthcare. The entity educates patients on what care is legal and available to them and has 10 clinics in its network that they can connect patients with.

Jitoria Hunter is the Vice President of Internal Affairs at Converge. She says that she and her team were frustrated by the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the long-standing constitutional right to abortion.

"We were devastated," she said. "It was also very frustrating to be in a state that led this movement. There's already limited access to... certain services."

Despite the adversity, Hunter says the non-profit is continuing with its services and offering new ones. She says a new tele-health initiative is in the works for Spring or Summer, and their directory of partnered clinics is still accessible.

"I wouldn't say that we changed how we operated," she said. "We wanted to create less barriers to people receiving services.... We want to make sure we communicated what was legal, what was illegal."

Hunter says she wants Mississippians to know that contraception medication is still accessible in the state.