The American city of Bristol, population of about 44,000, is a divided community.
Split between Virginia and Tennessee, the state line literally runs along the main road. While both sides have a lot in common, there is one big difference – abortion is illegal in Tennessee. This has been the case since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that gave individual states, rather than the federal government, the power to legislate abortion, leading 12 states to pass near-total bans.
So the only abortion clinic in town, Bristol Women’s Health, has moved less than a mile down the road to continue practicing legally in Virginia.
But just because abortion is legal in Virginia doesn’t mean the battle for abortion access is over.
“It’s like a whack-a-mole,” said Barbara Schwartz, the co-founder of SLAAP, the State Line Abortion Access Partnership. They assist people who travel to Virginia to have an abortion at the Bristol Women’s Health Clinic.
“As soon as one approach doesn’t work, the anti-abortion crowd pops up in Bristol and tries another.”
Barbara Schwartz (right) with other volunteers at the clinic [BBC]
On December 22, Bristol Circuit Court will hear the clinic’s case against an eviction notice served by their owners, brothers Chase and Chadwick King in April 2024.
The clinic’s lawyers argue that it has the right to renew its lease for a total of six more years. But if the judge rules in favor of the building’s owners, the clinic will be forced to find a new home.
This is not the first attempt by the owners to remove the clinic from their property. The brothers claimed that the clinic fraudulently hid that they performed abortions, which they claim they “strongly opposed”. The case was dismissed in September last year, with Judge Sage Johnson ruling:
“If [the landlords] had they done a simple internet search on their tenants, as a reasonably prudent landlord is likely to do, they would have discovered that the clinic did, in fact, provide abortion services as clearly stated on their website.”
The owner of the clinic Diana Derzis, who refused to comment on the hearing, previously stated that she hopes to keep the clinic in the city, even if they are evicted. However, she noted that there are few other suitable facilities in Bristol, Virginia.
The clinic leaving Bristol would be a “blow” to abortion access, according to Barbara Schwartz, the co-founder of SLAAP, the State Line Abortion Access Partnership.
Since Roe v Wade was overturned, states where abortions are legal have become destinations for out-of-state abortion seekers, with 155,000 people crossing state lines last year, according to the Guttmacher Institute (GI).
The organization also found that more than 9,200 people traveled to Virginia alone to have the procedure done last year.
“Bristol’s position means the clinic is the closest place within hours to obtain a safe and legal abortion for millions of southerners.”
Victoria Cobb, director of anti-abortion lobbyist the Family Foundation, also notes that Bristol’s location puts it at the “epicenter of the debate”.
Mrs Cobb launched the first of many efforts to restrict abortion in Bristol using local bylaws. The tactic is being used by anti-abortion campaigns in states that allow abortion. The logic is simple: If you can’t win on Capitol Hill, why not fight in City Hall?
“The locals don’t want to see their town turn into an abortion destination,” Ms. Cobb states. “We are happy to help them.”
Sammi Cooper is against abortion and protests against the clinic [BBC]
The Family Foundation has argued in the past that the existence of the clinic goes against the zoning regulation, which prohibits the use of the building in a way that could endanger life.
“Why doesn’t this extend to life in the womb?” asked Mrs. Cobb.
Their ordinance stated that no new clinic should be allowed to open in Bristol, and the expansion of the existing clinic should be blocked.
Similar rules have been used in other parts of the United States to restrict abortion, including nearby Washington and Russell counties. But Prof. Laura Hermer, an expert on abortion regulations in the United States, says that these efforts are largely “virtue signaling”.
“I would be surprised if most of these cities have any health care, let alone abortion, providers,” she said.
The debate became heated in Bristol, as the council agreed to look into the matter.
“It was more stressful than dealing with a parking lot. It’s not something that has really come to the local level before,” Jay Detrick, the director of city planning told the BBC.
Ultimately, the city attorney found that imposing restrictions on a medical facility was not within their competence.
[BBC]
Shortly after the city decided not to intervene, another group decided to try to close the clinic – this one led by Texas pastor Mark Lee Dickson.
The pastor pressured councils across the United States to enforce the Comstock Act, a 152-year-old federal law that prohibits sending or receiving material in the mail that could lead to an abortion.
Ninety-three local authorities passed ordinances to enforce the Comstock Act, even closing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lubbock, Texas.
Pastor Dickson hopes that his ordinance presented in Bristol will have the same result. It has not yet been considered by the Council, but he is still optimistic.
“The table of a local government or the rejection of such a measure in no way means that the initiative is dead,” he told the BBC.
Kimberly Smith, co-founder of SLAAP, anticipates more campaigns. She says anti-abortion campaigners target Bristol because of its unusual political makeup:
“They come here because we were a red part of a blue state. If they catch here, then this weakens the whole framework of state’s rights.”
Indeed, even if the clinic wins its case this week and can stay in place, its opponents are not discouraged, Pastor Dickson tells the BBC.
“Until the cries of the unborn are silenced in Bristol there will be an effort to push the City Council to fulfill its obligation to protect Bristolians in the womb.”