Mississippi abortion clinic at center of Supreme Court case is moving to New Mexico, drawing hundreds in protest

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Anti-abortion activists on Tuesday announced they would be opening a "crisis pregnancy center" next to a new abortion clinic that is moving from Jackson, Mississippi.

The clinic is moving after taking a central role in the U.S. Supreme Court case that ultimately resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Anti-abortion activists' center will be among many nationwide that aim to discourage people from seeking abortions.

Several hundred anti-abortion protesters gathered Tuesday outside the site of the Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization clinic that's set to soon open. It will be called Pink House West and will be the only clinic outside the Albuquerque area to offer medical abortions in New Mexico.

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During the Tuesday rally, Mark Cavaliere, CEO of the Southwest Coalition for Life, announced the planned opening of a crisis pregnancy center next door, saying a lease was secured yards away from the new abortion provider. Cards were passed around to rally attendees asking for financial contributions to help set up the facility.

“If ever there was a place to respond to a challenge like we’re facing, it’s the City of the Crosses,” Cavaliere told rally goers. “We’ve seen what God can do.”

Meanwhile, Pink House West is expected to open soon in a former dentist's office building. It's unclear when medical procedures are set to begin. A reporter with the USA TODAY Network dropped by the location but found the doors tightly shut and no signage posted. Operators did not respond to multiple inquiries, both in-person and via email.

Owner Diane Derzis and Shannon Brewer, executive director of now-closed Jackson Women’s Health Organization, have publicly said their intention is to create a place where people seeking to end a pregnancy can go for the medical procedure — particularly in a state that does not legally restrict abortion access.

Currently, the few abortion providers that exist in southern New Mexico only offer abortion via medication early in a pregnancy.

Activists plan to open center

The pregnancy center is planned to be a branch of the Guiding Star Project, which has a center in El Paso, Cavaliere said in an interview. The Guiding Star Project is opposed to abortion and contraception, saying on its website both practices “interrupt natural, healthy biological processes” for women.

Like similar crisis pregnancy centers in Las Cruces, Cavaliere said Guiding Star will provide free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, parenting classes, material assistance such as diapers, wipes and infant clothes, post-abortion support groups and “options counseling."

Critics of these types of pregnancy centers say they often provide medical misinformation to people who are considering abortion, such as claiming it makes women more susceptible to breast cancer, infertility and mental illness.

A 2017 report from NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights organization, argues crisis pregnancy centers use misleading advertising, obscure details over the phone, and use coercive and emotionally manipulative tactics against visitors to persuade women against having an abortion.

One Las Cruces city councilor has previously floated the idea of proposing a citywide ordinance to regulate the ways crisis pregnancy centers present themselves and their services. At least two CPCs already operate in Las Cruces.

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During Tuesday evening’s rally, attendees heard from Mark Lee Dickson, leader of an effort to outlaw abortion by enacting ordinances declaring cities “sanctuary cities” for the unborn. Attendees were also encouraged to look into the records of candidates running in this year’s general election and vote for those who oppose abortion.

“The governor ... wants to make this an abortion destination,” said state Sen. David Gallegos, a Republican.

Meanwhile, New Mexico's governor vowed not to back down from her support for access to abortions. Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection, tweeted hours before the protest that access remains legal and safe in her state.

“New Mexicans understand the right to make personal decisions about one’s own reproductive health care — and we won’t go back,” she wrote.

Contributing: Associated Press. Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter. Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at  @rromero_leah on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Pink House abortion clinic moves from Mississippi to New Mexico