In Miss., an effective attack against abortion

"Not one child will die by abortion, and not one mother will be maimed by abortion. That is the ultimate goal," Britton said.

Although an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in April showed that 55 percent of respondents believed the abortion choice should be left up to a woman and her doctor, many other states are putting added restrictions on their abortion clinics, with hundreds of bills introduced last year.

"As each legislature comes into session, we see more and more regulations targeted at abortion providers and targeted at making the procedures more difficult," says Kim Gandy, the president of NOW, the National Organization for Women.

Gandy also complains about anti-abortion groups working together around the country. "They've gone now to coordinated legislative efforts, and you can see the coordination when you look at the language. It's identical state after state after state," she said.

Supreme Court ruling
Last April, in a ruling that could have a dramatic long-term effect, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ban on late-term abortions, also known as "partial-birth" abortions.

The 5-4 decision in the case of Gonzales v. Carhart electrified anti-abortion activists and caused abortion rights supporters great concern.

White, the Mississippi state senator who fiercely opposes abortion, said of the decision, "That day was hallelujah day." 

Women's rights supporters predict anti-abortion activists will now step up their attacks and could introduce a flood of anti-abortion bills around the country next year.

"Our opponents have been emboldened by the Supreme Court to pass legislation, believing the Supreme Court will not reverse it, something they couldn't count on before," said Gandy, the NOW president.

At the Jackson abortion clinic, workers and doctors are bracing for more difficulties with protesters and legislators.

Former administrator Thomas, who is now a consultant for the facility, said she is afraid the protections of Roe v. Wade will be chipped away and eventually overturned nationwide if abortion rights supporters don't become more active politically.

"They are looking at themselves when they look at Mississippi if nothing is done to keep abortion legal and safe," she warned. 

On the potential future of abortion in American, she and Britton, the Pro-Life Mississippi president, would seem to agree. "It goes beyond Mississippi." Britton said. "We can never stop even when we have no more abortion clinics in this state."

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