April 18 hearing for lone abortion clinic
Mississippi’s only abortion clinic is scheduled for an April 18 license revocation hearing before the state Department of Health, and officials say a decision could come days or weeks later.
The Health Department told the clinic in late January that it intends to take away its license because the facility had failed to fulfill requirements of a 2012 state law. The Center for Reproductive Rights said Wednesday that the Jackson Women’s Health Organization had received notice of the hearing date.
Health Department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot told The Associated Press that an administrative officer will conduct the hearing open to the public at 9 a.m. at the Health Department headquarters in Jackson.
The law says anyone who does abortions at the clinic must be an OB-GYN with privileges to admit patients at a Jackson-area hospital. Clinic owner Diane Derzis has said no local hospital would grant the privileges to the out-of-state OB-GYNs who work at the clinic.
“They were clear that they didn’t deal with abortion and they didn’t want the internal or the external pressure of dealing with it,” Derzis told AP on Jan. 11.
AP
2/28/13
Magnolia Tribune
