PBS' Frontline is scheduled to air an episode tonight, The Last Abortion Clinic. The episode will take a look at the increasing amount of state level anti-choice legislation and will focus on Mississippi. I wonder why.
In the last decade, all but one clinic providing pregnancy terminations in the state have closed. The last abortion clinic, in Jackson, is difficult to access for women outside the capital who do not own a car, who have limited funds for gas or who cannot easily take time off from work or child care responsibilities.
"It's like even before Roe v. Wade for these poor women," says Pat White, a nurse-midwife who has been working in the Mississippi Delta for decades. "We are making decisions for them. These women have no option except to continue with the pregnancy, whether they can afford it, or whether or not it's wanted, or whether or not they can emotionally provide for the child."
Ugh. I'm sure I'll end up screaming at the television the entire time, but I'm planning on watching anyway.
A video preview of the episode is available online.
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The producer is a good friend of mine - I have high expectations. She also did "The soldier's heart," about soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and "The Jesus Factor," about Bush's religious background. Both are excellent, though "The Jesus Factor" is my favorite - very evenhanded and fair, and an excellent look into the President's conversion experience and the environment in which it took place. Both are available on the Frontline website in streaming video.