Abortion Center Will Close Down After Louisiana Bans Abortion

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 15, 2022   |   2:05PM   |   Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Hope Medical Group for Women, which has been killing babies in Louisiana since 1980, will close down now that the state bans abortions. Administrators say they’re hoping to raise enough money to reopen in a state where abortion is still legal, but they didn’t name the state.

As LifeNews reported last week, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing the state’s abortion ban to continue saving babies from abortions while the lawsuit against it from abortion businesses continues.

The Shreveport abortion facility, Hope Medical Group for Women, filed a request with the Louisiana Supreme Court asking it to reverse the First Circuit Court of Appeals decision that shuttered the three abortion facilities in the state pending further legal challenges.

The Louisiana Supreme Court denied the request, keeping the First Circuit’s decision in place. Louisiana’s pro-life laws will remain in effect pending further legal proceedings in the First Circuit Court of Appeals on the preliminary injunction.

Today, the Hope abortion business indicated it is closing.

As Louisiana’s abortion ban goes in and out of effect amid court battles, the clinic in Shreveport is making moves to find a new home outside the state.

According to a GoFundMe page, those who run the clinic, Hope Medical Group for Women, have found a new location “in an abortion-friendly state.” And the “Supporters of Hope Medical Group” is raising money to renovate that building and relocate clinic staff and medical equipment.

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A person answering the phone for Hope Medical confirmed there are plans to move the clinic out of Louisiana, though neither the clinic nor the group of supporters have announced where they are planning to go.

Creators of the GoFundMe page said the move will let the clinic keep on “providing abortion care to women in Louisiana and throughout the South” and challenging abortion bans in court.

“This is a difficult decision for the clinic, but it is the best decision for people who need access to abortion care,” they wrote.

Although the abortion company apparently has a plan on where to relocate, its statement that it wants to keep killing babies “in Louisiana and throughout the South” seemingly indicates it wants to stay in the region. However, there are few options. Kansas is perhaps the closest state to Louisiana where abortion is currently legal, and likely will be for some time because of the defeat of a pro-life amendment ensuring there is no right to kill babies in aboritons.

Because abortions are banned throughout much of the South, the next closest states for re-location are Florida, where abortions are banned up to 15 weeks and where an abortion ban is expected in the next legislative session, or in North Carolina. Every other southern state has either an abortion ban or a heartbeat law in place. It could go to Tennessee, Georgia or South Carolina and only do very early-term abortions since all three states ban abortions at 6 weeks when an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry wants to make sure women and unborn babies are protected from abortions. So he filed an appeal of a judge’s decision blocking enforcement of the state’s abortion ban. With the state’s highest court ruling in the ban’s favor, meaning there are 15 states with either an abortion ban or heartbeat law in place that currently bans abortions.

Leading pro-life groups applauded the state high court’s recent decision.

Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life Benjamin Clapper told LifeNews: “We are thankful that babies in Louisiana will continue to be protected from abortion while the abortion industry’s frivolous lawsuit plays out in court. Their lawsuit is disrespectful to our citizens and legislators who have made it clear for decades that we value life in the womb. ”

Thanks to the allowed enforcement of the abortion ban, each of the state’s abortion centers is closed.

Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin have abortion bans currently in place while Idaho, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have heartbeat laws in place protecting babies from abortions starting at 6 weeks.

As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.

Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.

Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was overturned and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state protecting babies from abortions and Kentucky became the 4th and Louisiana became the 5th and Ohio became the 6th and Utah became the 7th and Oklahoma became the 8th and Alabama became the 9th. This week, Mississippi became the 10th and South Carolina became the 11th,Texas became the 12th with its pre-Roe law and Tennessee became the 13th.

Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have old pro-life laws on the books but there is question about whether they are applicable and will be enforced.

Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The 13 total states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.

Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.

Despite false reports that abortion bans would prevent doctors from treating pregnant women for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, pro-life doctors confirm that is not the case. Some 35 states have laws making it clear that miscarriage is not abortion and every state with an abortion ban allows treatment for both.