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State Abortion Restrictions
Mississippi's Last Clinic
In Mississippi, abortion is virtually inaccessible. The Jackson Women's Health Clinic (not affiliated with Planned Parenthood) is the only clinic to serve the entire state. Susan Hill, president of Jackson Women's Health Association, which owns the facility, says the clinic regularly receives phone calls from women asking what they can do to end their pregnancies themselves. "One woman called, saying she couldn't come to the clinic but told us she had taken 20 Tylenols and hoped that would do the trick." Hill says she also hears Vera Drake-type stories about women in the Delta who help other women deal with unintended pregnancies.
The state also has a mandatory delay before an abortion can be performed. "It's hard to get the time off," says one student at the University of Southern Mississippi. "I had to get off work and get out of classes to drive there and then go back later [because of the delay]. It was a couple of weeks before I could take the time off again to have the abortion. And believe me, around here, you can't tell your boss why you need the time off."
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