Days after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Mississippi abortion clinic at the heart of that ruling remains open — for now.
"The thing that's going to keep me up at night is the women who will lose their lives because they don't have access to care," said Waikinya Clanton, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Jackson."We will not back down. The people here, particularly the women here in Mississippi, are primed for this moment," Clanton said.
But in a state with the highest rates of infant mortality, low birth weight and young child poverty, Israel said the federal and local governments need to step up. For children, the situation is like"a ditch," she said. "Put the mother in the ditch, put a child in the ditch with her. Now add another one and cover it with dirt," Israel said."That's what we're dealing with."