Jordan Johnson, 29, was one of numerous patients who had to navigate six anti-abortion campaigners Thursday to reach the Acacia Women's Center. Two days after the state Supreme Court upheld an 1864 abortion prohibition, campaigners yelled at women not to visit the clinic and ran up to automobiles entering the parking lot.
Walking past those guys was very angering and emotional,” before her abortion appointment. She swore at the campaigners to leave her alone. “If they yell at me, I'm not holding back.”
Johnson saw longtime OB-GYN Ronald Yunis at the facility. Protesters outside Yunis' office held giant, red posters claiming the doctor “kills 150 innocent babies here every month.”
The state's high court upheld an 1864 law banning abortion from conception, with an exemption to save the woman's life, on Tuesday. It made abortion a criminal punishable by two to five years in prison for those who performed or assisted in abortions. A lower court's conclusion that a 15-week prohibition trumped the law was overturned Tuesday.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking to know that so many women will hurt themselves or turn to other means because they can’t get one medically,” Johnson added. After this treatment, she hopes to tie her tubes because abortion may no longer be available in Arizona.
Amber Adams, 30, had her second abortion with Yunis on Thursday. She remembered being approached by anti-abortion campaigners on her first clinic visit.
The California Supreme Court postponed its verdict for 14 days on Tuesday to allow a lower court to hear “additional constitutional challenges.” Reproductive rights groups have two weeks to appeal the verdict. Practitioners might continue to provide services until the 15th week of pregnancy until May under a second suit.
Adams opposed the abortion restriction and argued patients should make their own decisions. “People need to mind their business and let people do their own thing,” Adams remarked.
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