Inside the clinic at the center of next month’s Supreme Court abortion showdown.
In her nondescript, windowless office off a narrow hallway, Kathaleen Pittman, the administrator of the Hope Medical Group for Women abortion clinic, watches patients come and go, coordinates her staff, and represses occasional waves of paranoia. “If I get too involved in the what-ifs, it’s almost paralyzing,” she says. “Our focus has to be on taking care of the women. It is hard to do when a lot of patients are asking, ‘What’s going to happen?’ and there are no assurances that we can give them.
National nonpartisan groups have supported Hope’s case. In briefs filed with the Supreme Court, the American Medical Association called the law unnecessary, in part because abortions are exceedingly safe.
Pittman grew up in a tiny town named Dubberly in northwest Louisiana, about half an hour away. She’s the 14th of 16 children from a devout Baptist home, and her first encounter with abortion was when she tried to help her friend get one in the early aftermath of thedecision. Today, Pittman is a presence in every sense: imposingly tall with wide-set shoulders, slightly wild hair, and a broad smile; she’s also intimidatingly frank yet gracious.
Katie Caldwell, a clinic counselor and advocate, has worked at the clinic for most of the last 10 years. “It’s gotten more difficult to do this job, but that’s been the case for a while,” says Caldwell. “If you fall into despair about it, then what good are you doing?” Pittman always keeps her cool. “I think she feels the weight, but she carries it gracefully,” Caldwell says. “If she’s sweating it, she’s not showing it, because she knows that’s what you do as a leader.
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