{"id":39829,"date":"2022-06-24T18:02:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T00:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-u-s-clinics-stop-doing-abortions-as-ruling-takes-hold\/"},"modified":"2022-06-25T00:02:38","modified_gmt":"2022-06-25T00:02:38","slug":"some-u-s-clinics-stop-doing-abortions-as-ruling-takes-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-u-s-clinics-stop-doing-abortions-as-ruling-takes-hold\/","title":{"rendered":"Some U.S. clinics stop doing abortions as ruling takes hold"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Protesters
Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court on Friday in Washington. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court\u2019s landmark abortion cases. (Jacquelyn Martin\/Associated Press)<\/span>Jacquelyn Martin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abortion bans that were put on the books in some states in the event Roe v. Wade was overturned started automatically going into effect Friday, while clinics elsewhere \u2013 including Alabama, Texas and West Virginia \u2013 stopped performing abortions for fear of prosecution, sending women away in tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome patients broke down and could not speak through their sobbing,\u201d said Katie Quinonez, executive director of West Virginia\u2019s lone abortion clinic, whose staff members spent the day calling dozens of patients to cancel their appointments. \u201cSome patients were stunned and didn\u2019t know what to say. Some patients did not understand what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

America was convulsed with anger, joy, fear and confusion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.<\/a> The canyon-like divide across the U.S. over the right to terminate a pregnancy was on full display, with abortion rights supporters calling it a dark day in history, while abortion foes welcomed the ruling as the answer to their prayers.<\/p>\n

In eliminating the constitutional right to abortion that has stood for a half-century, the high court left the politically charged issue up to the states<\/a>, about half of which are now likely to ban the procedure.<\/p>\n

The reaction across the country largely fell along predictable political lines.<\/p>\n

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat in a state where abortions are available with few restrictions, called the ruling a \u201cwar on women\u201d and vowed to stand as a \u201cbrick wall\u201d to help preserve the right. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vowed to seek a ban on abortions after 15 weeks.<\/p>\n

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a conservative Republican widely considered a potential candidate for president in 2024, tweeted: \u201cThe Supreme Court has answered the prayers of millions upon millions of Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue is certain to intensify the fall election season. Both sides intend to use the issue to energize supporters and get them to vote.<\/p>\n

\"Abortion-rights
Abortion-rights and anti-abortion protesters gather ahead of Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, federally protected right to abortion, on Friday in Washington. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court\u2019s landmark abortion cases. (Gemunu Amarasinghe\/Associated Press)<\/span>Gemunu Amarasinghe<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis country is lurching to the right, taking away rights. The voters are going to have to intervene,\u201d said Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the U.S. House majority whip.<\/p>\n

Some states, including Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri, had \u201ctrigger law\u201d bans on the books that went into effect as soon as Roe fell.<\/p>\n

In Alabama, the state\u2019s three abortion clinics stopped performing the procedure for fear providers would now be prosecuted under a law dating to 1951.<\/p>\n

At the Alabama Women\u2019s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, staff members had to tell women in the waiting room Friday morning that they could not perform any more abortions that day. Some had come from as far away as Texas for an appointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of them just started breaking down crying. Can you imagine if you had driven 12 hours to receive this care in this state and you are not able to?\u201d clinic owner Dalton Johnson said. Patients were given a list of out-of-state places still doing abortions.<\/p>\n

Abortion providers across Arizona likewise stopped doing procedures while they try to determine if a law dating to pre-statehood days \u2013 before 1912 \u2013 means doctors and nurses will face prison time now.<\/p>\n

In Texas, providers wondered which law they had to follow: a 1925 ban, a 2021 law that limits abortions to the first six weeks of pregnancy, or a trigger law that bans the procedure outright, but wouldn\u2019t take effect for a month or more. The confusion led them to suspend abortions while they seek legal advice.<\/p>\n

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton warned they could face immediate prosecution for performing abortions under the Prohibition-era ban, which carries two to five years in prison.<\/p>\n

It was the risk of prosecution under a 19th-century abortion ban punishable by prison that led the Women\u2019s Health Center of West Virginia to stop performing the procedure.<\/p>\n

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, said he will not hesitate to call the Legislature into special session if the ban needs to be clarified.<\/p>\n

The high court ruling brought strong reactions around the country.<\/p>\n

Carol E. Tracy, the executive director of the Women\u2019s Law Project in Philadelphia, was \u201cabsolutely furious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want women to be barefoot and pregnant once again,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I have no doubt that women and like-minded men, and people in the LGBTQ community, who are also at great risk, … we\u2019re going to fight back. I think it\u2019s going to be a long, hard fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garrett Bess, who works with a lobbying arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said his group will continue to press states to restrict abortion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be working with grassroots Americans to ensure the protection of pregnant mothers and babies,\u201d Bess said outside the Supreme Court. \u201cThis has been a long time coming, and it\u2019s a welcome decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion polls show that a majority of Americans favor preserving Roe.<\/p>\n

They include Alison Dreith, 41, an abortion activist in southern Illinois, where the governor has vowed to keep the procedure accessible. She said she fears for the safety of abortion workers, especially those who help people from states where the procedure is banned.<\/p>\n

Dreith works with the Midwest Action Coalition, which offers gas money, child care and other practical support to women seeking abortions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely believe that they will try to come after me. I\u2019m not built for prison, but I\u2019m ready,\u201d she said, \u201cand I say, \u2018Let\u2019s do this.\u2019 You want to pick that fight with me? I\u2019m fighting back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court on Friday in Washington. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court\u2019s landmark abortion cases. (Jacquelyn Martin\/Associated Press)Jacquelyn Martin Abortion bans that were put on the books in some states […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2612],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-39829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abortion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39829"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=39829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}