Abortion rights advocates in Mississippi strategize for a post-Roe world

As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday about reversing a nearly 50-year precedent on abortion rights, a young woman wearing a “Bans off my body” T-shirt walked up to a white poster in a downtown Jackson hotel ballroom.

Several members and supporters of the Mississippi Abortion Access Coalition had jotted down messages on an array of pink, blue and orange sticky notes — what they would want to say to the justices.

“I remember having to go to Cuba or Sweden for abortion. Not again.”

“Protect Black Women.”

She added the latest in pink ink on a neon green note:

“Understand the power you hold and the real lives this impacts.”

The racially diverse group gathered around linen-covered tables in the Westin were only a few miles away from the state’s only abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, whose lawyers were before the court in Washington on Wednesday morning. It was clear to many in the ballroom that the ability of patients in Mississippi to obtain abortions — and, indeed, the fate of abortion rights nationwide — hinged on the pending decision.