Where to get a legal abortion in the South: Clinics open for now in New Orleans, FL
With Mississippi’s trigger law now in effect, the lone abortion clinic in Jackson has closed its doors.
While most abortions are now banned in the state, people seeking help on the Mississippi Gulf Coast still have options for now in nearby southern states.
In a conference call with several Democrat governors on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said his fight to protect reproductive rights is not over.
“If extremist governors try to block a woman from traveling from her state and prohibits her from seeking medical help she needs to a state that provides that care, the federal government will act to protect her bedrock rights through the attorney general’s office,” Biden said.
There are a handful of clinics in Louisiana and Florida that are still open within a 200-mile radius of the Biloxi area.
Louisiana
Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Robin Giarrusso blocked Louisiana’s ban on abortions with a temporary restraining order after Hope Medical Group for Women sued the state. The order could be lifted as early as Friday when the case, which argues that Louisiana’s trigger law is unconstitutional, is scheduled for a hearing.
“Louisiana is one of the most restrictive states in the nation,” according to the Women’s Health Care Center in New Orleans. Pregnant people seeking an abortion in Louisiana must receive state-mandated counseling, are required to wait at least 24-hours between counseling and obtaining an abortion procedure, must receive a mandatory ultrasound, and must be offered the opportunity to hear the fetal heartbeat.
Pregnant minors in Louisiana are required to have the consent of a parent or legal guardian or obtain a judicial bypass prior to being able to get an abortion. Married patients under 18 do not need parental permission or a judicial bypass, according to Hope Medical Group for Women. Public funding for abortion is available only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
Louisiana has three abortion clinics.
Women’s Health Care Center, New Orleans LA
2701 General Pershing Street, New Orleans, about an hour from Bay St. Louis. Contact: 504-899-6010 or admin@whccno.com.
Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Charges for mandated counseling required before the procedure and offers surgical abortions up to 19 weeks and six days into pregnancy. Follow-up appointments two to four weeks after the procedure are free.
Hope Medical Group for Women, Shreveport LA
210 Kings Hwy., Shreveport. Contact: 318-221-5500 or 800-448-5004.
Medicinal and surgical abortions are available Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Patients must meet with the doctor at least 72 hours before the procedure. Those visits are available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon and cost $50.
Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge, Inc.
756 Colonial Dr., Suite B, Baton Rouge, about two hours from Bay St. Louis. Contact: 225-923-3242.
Patients must call the center on July 13 or July 15 to schedule an appointment.
The clinic offers medicinal and surgical procedures.
For additional information, visit ppgulfcoast.org/abortionhelp or call 800-230-7526.
Florida
Florida’s ban on abortions past 15 weeks of pregnancy took effect this week after the state prevented one judge’s attempt to block the ban.
Here is the nearest Florida location to abort pregnancies under 15 weeks.
American Family Planning of Pensacola
6115 Village Oaks Dr., Pensacola, about 90 minutes from Pascagoula. Contact: 850- 478-9660.
Immediate same-day appointments may be scheduled on their website.
Abortion pills and surgical abortions are available.
This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 10:04 AM.
