Mississippi's last abortion clinic persists

[Rose Siding]

"Mississippi is the picture of the future," said Susan Hill, a North Carolina-based businesswoman who owns several clinics, including the one in Jackson. "It's the perfect laboratory for any restriction; there's no way, politically, that it won't sail through the Legislature."

Roy McMillan, an anti-abortion activist who has been protesting outside Mississippi clinics for 25 years, is delighted that he no longer has to ponder which clinic to target.

"Thankfully, we've arrived at a time I always wanted — when the women have to come through us," said McMillan, dressed in a well-worn Santa Claus suit as he confronted clinic employees and patients on a recent weekday. "I would love our state to be the first to be abortion-free."
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The Legislature has been so diligent that Pat Cartrette, executive director of Pro-Life Mississippi, says her group no longer has a wish list of abortion laws — all its priorities have been enacted. Her group is now targeting the Jackson Women's Health Organization, asserting that one of the three doctors working there has vision problems.

"We don't need to wait for the Supreme Court to outlaw abortion," Cartrette said. "If we shine the light on the abortionists and the abortion industry, it will self-destruct, and we're seeing that happen in Mississippi."
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"Some Mississippi women drive across the state line to get abortions, but the poorest of the poor are either having the kids or getting a back-alley abortion," said Larry Rodick, who heads Planned Parenthood's Alabama office. "Some of those women probably end up getting sick and dying, though we'll never know because they don't put it on the death certificate."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002132445_abortion28.html