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BY ANOA CHANGA | Walking up to the Jackson Women’s Health Clinic Organization on an early Thursday morning in August, you see a smiling older woman in a reflective vest stop and greet cars driving by. She stands at the bottom of the hill that leads to the clinic’s parking lot, positioned in a way that makes it seem like you’re supposed to stop and talk to her. It’s not until you reach the front gate of the Pink House, the clinic’s nickname, that it becomes clear she’s simply posing as a volunteer patient escort. The smile and pleasant greeting distract people from realizing her real purpose: taking down the license plates of patients headed into the clinic.
The anti-abortion presence is light that day. Shannon Brewer, the clinic’s longtime director, jokes that the anti-abortion protesters must be on vacation. Sitting in her office explaining the general run of the clinic, Brewer points to several security monitors on the wall.
The security presence is, unfortunately, necessary. And the harassment experienced by the staff and patients is real. Brewer says they have regular meetings with the local FBI to deal with threats. Because of the threats and the harassment, the clinic doesn’t even have a doctor who lives in the state.
“Every local doctor we’ve ever had here, the antis are gonna harass them,” Brewer said. If they work at another location, such as a hospital, abortion opponents are “gonna call their jobs all day. They’re going to their houses. They’re going to all their neighbors’ houses,” she said.
Instead, five doctors rotate at the clinic, all flying in from out of state. “We cannot have a local doctor here; the antis will not allow that. No ma’am,” Brewer added.
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