Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO) has issued a voluntary dismissal without prejudice in the Mississippi Supreme Court case Jackson Women’s Health Organization v. Dobbs.
JWHO’s clinic, also known as “The Pink House,” officially closed its doors on July 6 after a ruling from a Hinds County Chancery Court judge stated that Mississippi’s trigger law on abortion would continue to go into effect.
The clinic then filed an appeal and petitioned to reopen within the following week. JWHO’s court date was scheduled to be held in the Mississippi Supreme Court later this month but within just a couple of weeks, clinic officials announced their plans to sell the building and move operations to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
“Our only choice was to go where we could make a difference,” said JWHO CEO Diane Derzis on a recent episode of Democracy Now!. “And the closest place that we found was Las Cruces.”
Now, the clinic is taking its final steps in ensuring the facility’s complete closure through the issuing of voluntary dismissal in the appealed court case.
“On July 7, (the “Trigger Ban”) took effect, prohibiting the provision of nearly all abortion care in
the state. As a result, JWHO was forced to stop providing abortion care and to close its doors,” the document reads. “JWHO has now reached an agreement to sell the building in which the clinic operated. JWHO is no longer in a position to reopen at this time or to move forward with this case.”
The U.S. Supreme Court released its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, giving individual states the power to form their own abortion laws.
