Abortion debate epicenter: Mississippi clinic stays open

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — As the U.S. Supreme Court heard a Mississippi case that could topple abortion rights nationwide, the state’s only abortion clinic was busier than ever. Volunteers were escorting patients into the clinic Wednesday while protesters outside beseeched women not to end their pregnancies. The Supreme Court heard arguments over a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions at 15 weeks. Stakes are high because Mississippi’s Republican attorney general has asked justices to use the case to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s 1973 ruling declaring a nationwide right to abortion. The Mississippi abortion clinic is seeing more out-of-state patients since Texas enacted a law banning most abortions by six weeks.