With its candy-pink stucco walls, Mississippi’s only abortion clinic still open is clearly not trying to hide or even be discreet.
Nicknamed “the pink house” by the locals, it is a splash of color that stands out among the beige and faded buildings of Fondren, a colorful neighborhood of Jackson, the capital of this southern state of the United States.
She is also at the heart of the battle currently being waged before the Supreme Court on the right to abortion.
Challenging the restrictive law passed by Mississippi in 2018, which prohibits abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy – except in cases of medical emergency or severe abnormality of the fetus – the clinic Jackson Women Health Organization (JWHO) s finds herself having to defend the rights of her patients even before the high court.
In Mississippi, even the Democrats are against abortion
According to a draft decision that the media Politico revealed on Monday, the Court intends to use this challenge to invalidate the landmark judgment Roe v. wade handed down in 1973, which protects, with certain limits, the right to abortion of American women. Once this protection is annihilated, states can do as they see fit, including prohibiting them entirely.
This risks signing the death warrant of the clinic. Mississippi passed a trigger law that would immediately ban pregnancy terminations if Roe v. wade is overthrown.
Except for its cheerful walls, the building looks like a bunker. Black canvases cover the fence that surrounds it, to hide what is happening inside. The entrance to the JWHO is hidden on the side, in a concrete base.
” No Trespassing “. Yellow signs warn intruders to stay away.
All of this is necessary, says Michelle Colon, a longtime women’s freedom activist and current director of SHERo Mississippi. She even founded “The Defenders of the Pink House”, which accompany women to the clinic and fend off those who intimidate and harass them.
“The police don’t protect her, the politicians don’t protect her. »
Do not enter!
Thursday afternoon, during the passage of To have toonly John Lisenbe, 69, beats the pavement, his “Evangelists for Life” sign prominently displayed.
He himself is surprised to be alone. “Usually there are a lot more people.” More move in the morning, a good dozen, he says, to discourage women from setting foot in the clinic. He himself travels 300 kilometers every Thursday to stand guard there.
Then, several young women leave at a rapid pace. ” Mrs ! I have some reading for you! he shouts to each of them, handing them a pamphlet of Bible verses.
They ignore the man, lowering their heads and disperse.
“It must be a day when they get the abortion pill,” he deduces, “otherwise they wouldn’t all come out at the same time. »
The clinic offers this service (up to 11 weeks of pregnancy) in addition to surgical abortions up to 16 weeks. It always shows full weeks in advance.
“It’s terrible what they’re doing inside,” said John Lisenbe grimly. “Fortunately, it will be over soon”, having high hopes that Roe v. wade be invalidated.
Despite her 72 years, Barbara Beaver will protest in front of the Jackson clinic every week too.
Reached by phone, she says she knows several women who have aborted and bitterly regretted their decision. “It hurts women too, not just babies.” Her stance is firmly rooted in her Christian faith, she says, advocating for those who go to the ‘pink house’ about ‘other options’, such as adoption or help from the community to help them raise their child. .
But doesn’t that lock them into a cycle of poverty? “We have to find other solutions to our problem of poverty than killing our babies,” she said.
In the evening, a monthly street festival begins to come alive in the area.
A group of employees and “pink house defenders”, without their usual rainbow-colored bibs, stand guard outside the JWHO, “in case something goes wrong during the festivities, which all attract kinds of people,” said one.
The part of religion
One of the Fondren Live festival volunteers, Nathan, glanced over at the pink building. Usually the anti-abortions “are there seven days a week. With their loudspeakers,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Welcome to the Bible Belt “Added his companion, pointing to North State Street: “Right there, there are four churches. »
Religion is omnipresent in this state, the most religious in the country with its neighbor, Alabama, according to data from the American research center pew.
“Here, a politician just has to say he’s pro-life, and he’ll win,” says Michelle Colon.
And that’s why the battle is different in the Magnolia State. “In Mississippi, even the Democrats are against abortion. While in other southern states, elected officials can provide a counterweight.
“We have no allies. Or so little. »
There is a fringe here “of radical Christianity which is very conservative and very powerful”, she remarks.
Minority women at risk
What worries Michelle Colon most at the moment? The criminalization of black women and those of other ethnic minorities.
Yes Roe v. wade is reversed, “these are the women who will suffer the most” if abortion becomes a crime again in all circumstances. A woman who miscarries could even be at risk of criminal prosecution, she warns.
Mississippi is the poorest state in the United States. Black women and “others with darker skin” form a large part of its population and they are poor, unable to afford abortions elsewhere, argues Ms.me Colon.
A criminal record for these women will destroy their employment opportunities and the alternative will be to carry the pregnancy to term, weakening their living conditions, among other hardships.
While many people were shocked to read the draft judgment, women’s rights activists have been preparing for years for the death of Roe v. Wade.
It’s not the closing of a single clinic that’s at stake. Abortion will likely become illegal in about 25 states.
“We will continue to do what we do: help women obtain health care and abortions,” promises Ms.me Colon.
” We are getting ready. »
This report was funded with support from the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.