Welcome to the Louisiana clinic at the center of the court case that could gut Roe v. Wade.

[Elderberry]

VOX By Anna North Feb 19, 2020

Getting an abortion in “the most pro-life state in America”

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana — The first patients arrive around 10 am.

They wear boots and coats against the December cold, but there’s coffee inside to help them warm up. Christmas figurines — a Santa holding a tree, a quaint house covered in snow — give the place a homey feel. In the waiting room, Friends plays on the TV.

Even before they sit down, though, patients are confronted with reminders that this place is under threat. A sign on the door reads “internal and external security surveillance: 24 hours a day.” Another, nearby, asks patients not to speak to protesters. Then there is the ominous poster on the waiting room wall: “The coastline of Louisiana is not eroding nearly as fast as a woman’s right to determine her own outcome.”

This is Hope Medical Group for Women, one of the last abortion clinics in Louisiana, which was recently ranked “the most pro-life state in America.”

Once patients are here, the first step is an ultrasound, required under Louisiana law for each patient seeking an abortion. A technician is also required to display the ultrasound image on a screen, describe in detail what it depicts (“including limbs if they are present and viewable”), and offer a printout of the image. There is also a 23-point consent form patients must review and sign, which states that “the heartbeat of the unborn child is required to be made audible to me,” although patients can decline to listen.

After the ultrasound comes a visit to a doctor, who is required to offer patients a packet from the Louisiana Department of Health titled “Women’s Right to Know.” In the two dozen or so pages, they’ll find a warning that patients with a family history of breast cancer should seek medical advice before getting an abortion (studies have shown no link between abortion and breast cancer). A section titled “emotional side of an abortion” states that “some women have reported serious psychological effects after their abortion.” (A recent study found that five years after an abortion, 84 percent of patients had positive feelings about the decision or no feelings at all.)

More: https://www.vox.com/2020/2/19/21070703/louisiana-abortion-case-supreme-court-law-roe

[PeteS in CA]

So the abortuary uses signs to instill and hype fear and provides patients information necessary for an informed decision only because the law requires it. Will Vox get a kick-back for shilling for the abortuary?

[Smokin Joe]

In the two dozen or so pages, they’ll find a warning that patients with a family history of breast cancer should seek medical advice before getting an abortion (studies have shown no link between abortion and breast cancer).

Interesting statement. I recall reading, some years ago, studies which showed the rate of breast cancer among women who had clinical abortions was some 2.5X the rate among women who had not, multiples of that even among women who had experienced miscarriages. Something about the body not shutting down stem cells activated to develop milk production for the coming baby which then turned cancerous. Oddly(?) enough, I can't find those studies on the web now.

[Hoodat]

Shreveport is about 60% African-American.  Coincidence?