The Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO), the only facility providing abortions in the state of Mississippi, is now waiting for state certification that it adheres to onerous new requirements and can continue to provide abortions after 13 weeks’ gestation. The state license would certify that the clinic meets state ambulatory surgical standards, in accordance with a 2004 law forcing all abortions after the first trimester to be performed in such a facility.
National Women’s Health Organization President Susan Hill says that the facility complies with most requirements, reports the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, but still must work out the required nurse-to-patient ratios and attaining hospital-admittance privileges for the out-of-state doctors who fly in to provide services at the facility. If the clinic does not receive a provisional certification in January, allowing it to provide services while working towards remaining requirements, it will no longer be able to provide abortions after the first trimester.
“We have no intention of leaving and we intend to continue to provide the services that we’re providing,” Hill told the Associated Press. “It won’t be easy, but we’re staying.”
