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TRAPs, Mississippi, and pink abortion clinics

Speaking of Mississippi (see my last post), the fight goes on over the state's only abortion clinic, in Jackson.

As you know, the Mississippi government is trying to implement regulations that would make it impossible for the Jackson Women's Health Organization to stay open. The status of the clinic is in limbo while the state and the clinic battle it out in court.

In the meantime, two developments:

First, the governor, Phil Bryant, committed a gaffe, which in American politics means he told the truth. At a pro-life event, he stated the obvious: He wants to shut down the Jackson clinic. To be fair, it is not clear that he meant that his support and defense of the current Mississippi regulations is driven primarily by a desire to shut down the clinic. Governor Bryant theoretically could have a parallel desire to make the abortion process safer for women.

It does seem a bit of a stretch. What marks the Mississippi regulations as "TRAPs"(Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) is that a) they impose requirements on abortion clinics that are not imposed on providers of medical procedures of a similar nature and risk; and b) they are medically unnecessary-- they do not make significantly safer a procedure that is already relatively safe under the status quo ante.

Because of these factors, the Governor is just saying out loud what the regulations by their nature suggest-- they are a cover for making abortion in Mississippi effectively illegal.

The second development is that the Jackson Women's Health Organization repainted its building Pepto-Bismol pink, as an act of positivity and defiance. A reporter from the Clarion Ledger described the color as a "vibrant, cheery hue." That's charitable.

I don't know. I guess if painting your building pink helps you whistle through the graveyard, then I can't object too much. When I saw the photo, however, two thoughts came immediately to mind. One is that I'm not sure that making your abortion clinic look like a piece of bubble gum or like a Lego set sends the right message. The question of what kind of 'tone' or atmosphere one should shoot for in a medical setting requires a longer discussion, but something about the color of the building seems unserious.

The other thought is that pro-lifers are going to look at the building and see the color of blood. Any enterprising pro-life photographer can take a picture of the building and darken the tone just enough to make the clinic look like a horror house. If you read accounts of pro-lifers who pray or stand vigil outside of abortion clinics, they often talk about the 'sense of evil' coming off of the building. Regardless of whether the feeling is genuinely sensed or self-generated, do you think that painting your clinic a color redolent of scary clowns is a PR winner?

Links:

Article in ThinkProgress (January 11, 2013): Mississippi Governor: 'My Goal Of Course Is To Shut Down' The State's Last Abortion Clinic

From the Center for Reproductive Rights, a short summary of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (March 5, 2009)

Article in ThinkProgress (January 31, 2013): Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic Sends a Message: 'We're Here And We're Not Going Anywhere

Article in the ClarionLedger (January 30, 2013): Abortion clinic makes a statement with a pink paint job

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