The OSA has taken belligerent means to close the clinic down.
Kentucky is now an abortion rights battlefield.[/tweetit] The stakes are high in the state which could turn into the only one in the United States without a single abortion clinic. The situation has intensified even more after the Kentucky Republicans wrestled control of the state government. The new administration wasted no time in passing a slew of new restrictions related to abortions. Governor Matt Bevin, a Republican, has begun a licensing battle against EMW Women's Surgical Center, the last abortion clinic left in the state.
Christian Groups Trying to Shut Down Last Remaining Abortion Clinic in Kentucky[/tweetthis]
The Republican move to stop abortion has an aggressive ally with the name Operation Save America (OSA). The OSA is a known Christian fundamentalist organization that regularly gathers hundreds of activists with a common agenda against pro-choice people to protest against abortion in front of the clinic.
The EMW Women's Surgical Center is licensed to carry out abortions. It has the requisite relationship with hospitals for emergencies. The clinic has met all the due requirements until now. The state administration now says that the clinic has a number of deficiencies and threatened to cancel the license of the clinic.
EMW cannot operate without a license. To make sure that the clinic continues to have a license, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a case on the behalf of the client. The case is to come up in court in September.
1 abortion clinic in all of Kentucky? Women deserve access! Nyc for EMW Women's Surgical Center https://t.co/jPIx9m1pZo #KentuckyFreeChoice
— MADISON (@noiseofmadison) July 14, 2017
Abortion protestors have no patience to wait that long. They have already started a campaign against the activities of the clinic. Protesters have also targeted its doctors and other medical personnel. Anti-abortion activists plan to picket not only the clinic, but also the homes of the doctors who work there. About 19 anti-abortion activists were arrested in May for a list of violations, one of them being blocking patient access to the clinic. The activists linked their hands to block the clinic entrance. They refused to budge when asked by law enforcement. It is to be noted that protesters can take advantage of rights being provided by First Amendment. The latter states that protesters have rights to make their point known outside the clinic while on public property, but they do not have any right to interfere with any person's access to the concerned private property. A judge of the Federal Court has given the order to create a buffer zone covering the clinic entrance. A lot of tensions happen in this part of the property.