More patients seen going into state’s only abortion clinic, 9 days before trigger law takes effect

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Nine days remain until most abortions are banned in the Magnolia State. In response, the state’s only abortion clinic is seeing more patients

Members of the Pink House Defenders said they’re seeing more people going into the clinic before the trigger law goes into effect.

“We’re probably seeing a few more than usual, because, obviously, everyone’s trying to get in last minute,” co-coordinator of the Pink House Defenders, Derendra Hancock, said.

Pro-life groups and pro-choice members outside of the Pink House said they noticed a larger influx of cars going into the gate parking lot.

“When I got here, there was ten vehicles in the lot. But there were some that were dropped off,” pro-life supporter, Laura Duran, said.

“We had a good-sized group this morning, especially the first group,” Hancock said. She thinks the clinic is trying to handle as many appointments as it can before the deadline.

“I believe they’ve tried to call a few people that, you know, are waiting for their first appointment on down the road and get a few extras in every day,” Hancock explained.

She said the clinic is no stranger to handling large groups of people. “This clinic has always been busy. It’s been the only clinic in the state since 2004. Most of the time it’s probably 250 patients a week, some weeks 300.”

As more people go into the clinic, Hancock said pro-life supporters have been louder than they’ve been in the past.

“They’ve brought ladders to look over the privacy fence. They brought those out both Friday and Saturday so they can look in the clinic door when we open up to let patients in,” Hancock explained. “They’ve been really aggressive. They stood in the driveway, which they’ve always done it. But they’re standing there a little longer.”

Duran said she’s been trying to spread more awareness about alternatives to abortion over the past few weeks to help pregnant mothers.

“I thought possibly they would go ahead and accept it and understand that they can be helped, and they can be helped. We have helped many that were pregnant that decided to keep their baby. We’ve adopted babies from this place,” Duran explained.

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