By Dave Andrusko
It comes as no surprise—federal Judge Daniel P. Jordan III has again blocked enforcement of a Mississippi law that requires that all abortionists be board-certified and have admitting privileges to a local hospital.
HB 1390 was originally set to go into effect July 1, 2012, but at the eleventh hour Judge Jordan temporarily blocked Mississippi from enforcing the law. He later extended the temporary restraining order a second time. Judge Jordan has blocked any civil or criminal penalties against the Jackson Women’s Health Organization and its employees.
Pro-lifers say the requirement is needed to protect women. Prior to the issuance of the first TRO, State Representative Sam Mims, who sponsored HB 1390, explained in an interview with CNN, “I think the intent is to make sure that women who are receiving these abortions are receiving abortions by a professional physician who is certified.” He added, “If something goes wrong, which it might — we hope it doesn’t, but it could — that physician could follow the patient to a local hospital. That’s the intent.”
Neither abortionist at Mississippi’s lone abortion clinic has local admitting privileges. The latest in a series of deadlines was this Thursday when the State Department of Health was to hold a hearing in light of the failure of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization’s abortionists to persuade two local hospitals to grant them admitting privileges.
The effect of Judge Jordan’s decision is to enjoin the state of Mississippi from enforcing the admitting privileges requirement of HB 1390 while the clinic’s lawsuit proceeds.
According to Associated Press stories published in 2012 two attorneys for the state, Benjamin Bryant and Roger Googe, said “that the clinic’s owner — Diane Derzis — also owned an Alabama clinic that was shut down for health violations.”
“Inspection reports compiled by the Alabama authorities contain evidence that clinic staff failed to respond to complaints of post-surgical complications,” Bryant and Googe wrote. “Derzis resolved the matter with the state of Alabama by entering into a consent order in which she agreed not to run the clinic.”
The Daily Beast ran a glowing profile last July of Derzis which began, “After nearly four decades working in, running, and owning abortion clinics, both her champions and her opponents call her the ‘abortion queen,’” a “moniker” that Derzis embraces.
According to Allison Yarrow, “The Jackson Women’s Health Organization sees about 200 women each month,” including 44 the Friday before the law was going to take effect. (In court papers, the clinic said it had performed about 3,000 abortions in 18 months.)
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