Jackson Women's Health Organization

Jackson Women's Health Organization (abbreviated JWHO and commonly known as the Pink House[1][2]) was an abortion clinic located in a bright pink building in Jackson, Mississippi's Fondren neighborhood.[3] It was the only abortion clinic in Mississippi since the other one closed in 2006.[4] The JWHO closed its doors on July 6, 2022, following the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and the day before Mississippi's near-complete abortion ban went into effect.[5]

Jackson Women's Health Organization
AbbreviationJWHO
NicknamePink House
Established1995 (1995)
DissolvedJuly 6, 2022 (2022-07-06)
TypeReproductive health and abortion clinic
HeadquartersFondren, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
OwnerDiane Derzis
AffiliationsNational Abortion Federation
Websitejacksonwomenshealth.com

The clinic was established in 1995.[6] JWHO provided multiple reproductive health services, including abortions up to 16 weeks, birth control and checkups.[7][8] The clinic was a member of the National Abortion Federation, which sets compliance standards for abortions to ensure the safety of patients and provide attentive care. The medical staff at JWHO consisted of OB/GYNs, licensed nurses, technicians, and counselors.

In March 2015, JWHO was vandalized, with security cameras destroyed and a generator severely damaged.[9] As of 2022, the clinic's owner was Diane Derzis.[1]

Mississippi politicians, including Governor Phil Bryant, attempted to close JWHO with TRAP laws since 2012, when Bryant signed a law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.[10] This was problematic for JWHO, because neither of its two doctors who performed abortions had such privileges.[11] In response to the law, JWHO filed for a restraining order to allow them to remain open temporarily. On Sunday, July 1, 2012, a federal judge granted them this order, preventing enforcement of the law until at least July 11, 2012.[12]

In 2013, Derzis told ABC News that both of JWHO's doctors lived out-of-state and flew in every week to work there.[13] In April 2013, Judge Daniel Porter Jordan III issued a ruling blocking part of the law that would have closed JWHO.[14]

In 2014, a divided panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision blocking Mississippi from using the law to close JWHO.[15] In a statement accompanying the ruling, Judge E. Grady Jolly wrote that, "Mississippi may not shift its obligation to respect the constitutional rights of its citizen to another state".[16] In 2016, the Supreme Court refused to review the 2014 decision, thereby allowing it to stand.[17]

In March 2017, a U.S. federal court permanently blocked the state of Mississippi from closing JWHO for noncompliance with the law, while still allowing the law to move forward.[18][19]

Additional cases were filed in March 2018 and December 2019.[20] In a 2018 lawsuit, the plaintiffs said that there was a specific point at which the abortion would be wrongful ("Gestational Age Act").[21] This point was determined under the Gestational Age Act as 15 weeks. This was later blocked by United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves and upheld at the Fifth Circuit.

The state challenged the case where it was certified by the Supreme Court as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in May 2021, to be heard in the 2021–22 term. Oral arguments in court for Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Organization began on December 1, 2021.[22] On September 20, 2021, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and 24 medical organizations submitted an amicus brief in support of Jackson's Women's Health Organizations case.[23] They provided support for JWHO by deeming the ban on abortions after 15 weeks as a threat to safe medical care for women. In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that there existed no constitutional right to abortion, and upheld the Mississippi law, overturning the precedent set in 1973 by Roe v. Wade and in 1992 by Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Derzis announced in July that the clinic would close permanently, and that the building had been sold.[24]

As of January 2023, the former clinic has been converted to a consignment store. [25]

References
  1. Harris, Bracey (July 6, 2022). "The Mississippi abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court fight shuts its doors for good". NBC News. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  2. Perlis, Wicker (June 24, 2022). "Jackson's Pink House staff members say goodbyes, plan for the future in a post-Roe world". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  3. Allen, Samantha (2015-03-13). "Working at Pink House, Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  4. Lockhart, P.R. (2017-05-05). "To understand the cost of the war on women, look to Mississippi". Mother Jones.
  5. Pettus, Emily Wagster (July 6, 2022). "Scramble as last Mississippi abortion clinic shuts its doors". AP. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  6. PABLO BEAUREGARD, LUIS (June 27, 2022). "Inside the Mississippi abortion clinic that triggered Supreme Court ruling: 'Everyone who kills babies deserves to die'". El País. PRISA. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  7. Arnold, Amanda (2017-05-04). "A New Threat to Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic Moved in Across the Street". The Cut. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  8. "Abortion at SCOTUS: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health". Kaiser Family Foundation. 2022-05-04. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  9. Cohen, David S.; Connon, Krysten (2015-03-25). "Not an Isolated Incident". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  10. Blau, Max (2015-09-28). "Owner of Mississippi's last abortion clinic won't stop fighting for her patients". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  11. Sheppard, Kate (2013-01-22). "Inside Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic". Mother Jones.
  12. Rich Phillips; George Howell (2012-07-01). "Mississippi's only abortion clinic to stay open under restraining order". CNN. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  13. "72 Hours Inside Mississippi's Lone Abortion Clinic". ABC News. 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  14. Robertson, Campbell (2013-04-15). "Ruling Prevents Closing of Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  15. Robertson, Campbell; Eckholm, Erik (2014-07-29). "Judges Block Abortion Curb in Mississippi". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  16. Liptak, Adam (2016-06-28). "Justices' Orders Underscore Ruling Against Abortion Limits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  17. "Supreme Court Refuses to Review Mississippi's Clinic Shutdown Law" (Press release). Center for Reproductive Rights. 2016-06-28.
  18. Regan, Michael (2017-03-18). "Court blocks Mississippi law that would have shuttered state's only abortion clinic". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  19. "Federal District Court Permanently Blocks Mississippi's Clinic Shutdown Law" (Press release). Center for Reproductive Rights. 2017-03-17.
  20. "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs, No. 18-60868 (5th Cir. 2019)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  21. "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Currier [15-week ban]". Rewire.News. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  22. "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs". Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  23. "ACOG Leads Groundbreaking Coalition in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization". www.acog.org. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  24. "Owner: Mississippi abortion clinic is sold, won't reopen". Politico. July 18, 2022.
  25. Harris, Bracey (2023-01-12). "The abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court ruling will become a secondhand store". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
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