Last Friday Roe v. Wade was overturned in a 6-3 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and abortion was officially turned over to the states to decide.
For clinics like Life Choices Pregnancy Care Center in Columbus, the ruling does not change what services are available for expecting parents seeking help.
“We feel like just because you’ve had an abortion and the struggles you might be dealing with that and the feelings that come with that, we do offer that type of counseling,” Life Choices executive director Ray Campbell said. “Everything we do, we will probably continue. Even with the overturn (of Roe v. Wade), we know that it will probably still happen. We will still offer (post-abortion counseling) free of charge.”
Life Choices is one of two organizations in the Golden Triangle that is governed by the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, a national nonprofit that provides services for anti-abortion pregnancy centers and medical clinics. The other is the Starkville Pregnancy Care Clinic, who declined to comment.
Thomas Glessner, president for NIFLA, said the organization is rejoicing in the overturning of the nearly 50-year-old court case.
“NIFLA celebrates the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” Glessner said in a press release.
“While we rejoice that America has entered a post-Roe era, we know the battle for life is not over. NIFLA will continue to support women, babies and families during times of trouble. … The work of these centers will become more critical than ever as they provide women with the all life-affirming resources they need in a post-Roe America.”
In Mississippi, a trigger law has been in place since 2007 when the state legislature passed Senate Bill 2391. The law only allows for abortion in two cases: the mother’s life is in danger and the mother was raped, only if a formal charge was filed with law enforcement.
The law also stipulates a person performing an illegal abortion in Mississippi can face up to 10 years in prison.
Giving life-viable options
Life Choices Pregnancy Care Center offers services such as free pregnancy tests, free limited obstetrics ultrasounds and free pregnancy and parenting classes in a “safe, comfortable and Christian environment.” The center does what they can to help a woman carry a child to birth and can help with the options of parenting or adoption.
Life Choices does not offer abortions or abortion referrals.
“We do education on abortions, but we also educate on other options, one of those being adoption,” Campbell said. “We have two (adoption) organizations that we work with that we can put the client in contact with and help them get that process started if that’s what they’d like to do. Once we get them in contact with the adoption agency, the adoption agency kind of takes over from there.”
If a woman decides to go with the parenting route, Life Choices continues to play a supporting role.
“We will stay with a client, a mom, until their child is two years of age,” Campbell said. “As they’re going through our pregnancy parenting classes we also provide practical health as well as if there is anything else they might need. We try to find outside resources for them and connect them with those outside resources.”
Expanding care
Life Choices will soon move its services from the 112 7th Street North location to the former John Acker State Farm building at 1124 Main Street. By the end of July or early August, the clinic will move to the larger and more accessible building.
“The main thing, really, is that our services will continue to remain the same as always, and they will continue to be free,” Campbell said. “It may be that maybe we start looking at some different services that we offer (as a result of the ruling), but we’ll just have to see what that will look like. We may have to hire more staff.”
Helping new parents
Life Choices’ parenting classes are for mothers and fathers, and Campbell said he has seen many come through who did not believe they could be a good parent while working or continuing with their schooling.
“We’ve had several clients come in and choose to go through the pregnancy and parenting classes, and it’s fun to watch them become more confident in things that they didn’t know,” Campbell said. “We’ve had people who didn’t think they could parent because they had a job and they wouldn’t be able to parent and do their job, but then they decide to parent and we walk with them through those two years. Then they come to realize that, ‘I can do this! I can parent and have a job.’ … It’s been beautiful to watch some of these stories of people who thought they couldn’t, but then realizing that they can.”
Editor’s note: The use of the term anti-abortion is preferred over pro-life according to the Associated Press Stylebook.
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