Eve Webster, Bristol, Virginia, USA
Bristol, a city in the United States (US) with a population of about 44.000, is a divided community.
The border between the states of Virginia and Tennessee runs through the city's main street.
Although communities on both sides of the border have much in common, there is also a big difference - abortion is banned in Tennessee.
A ban has been imposed. after the US Supreme Court decision in 2022. which gave the federal states, instead of the federal government, the authority to independently regulate the issue of abortion.
After this ruling, 12 federal states adopted almost complete bans on abortion.
That's why the only women's health clinic in the city that provides abortion services Bristol Women's Health, moved about a kilometer away on the same street, but which belongs to Virginia, so that she could continue to operate legally.
But just because abortion is legal in Virginia doesn't mean the fight for abortion access is over.
"It's like a game of 'whack-a-mole' - just as the problem is solved, it comes back," says Barbara Schwartz, co-founder of the organization SLAAP (Straight-Abortion Access Partnership).
This organization helps people who go to this clinic in the Bristol, Virginia area for abortions.
"As soon as one initiative fails, the anti-abortionists show up again in Bristol and try something else."
The clinic filed a lawsuit in Bristol District Court against the building's owners, brothers Chase and Chadwick King, who served it with an eviction order in April 2024.
The clinic's legal representatives claim that it has the right to extend the lease for another six years.
If the judge rules in favor of the building owner, the clinic will be forced to look for a new home.
This is not the first attempt by landlords to evict the clinic from their property.
The brothers previously claimed that the clinic fraudulently concealed the fact that it performed abortions, which they say they "expressly oppose."
The case was dismissed in September 2024.
“If (the landlords) had conducted a simple internet search on their tenants, which any reasonably prudent landlord would probably have done, they would have discovered that the clinic provides abortion services.”
"That is clearly stated on their website," Judge Sage Johnson said in his ruling.
Diana Derzis, the clinic's owner, said earlier that she hopes the hospital will remain in the city, even if it is forced to move.
However, she emphasized that there are very few other facilities in the Bristol, Virginia area that meet the clinic's needs.
Closing the Bristol clinic would be a serious "blow" to access to abortion, says Barbara Schwartz.
Since the verdict was overturned in the case of Roe v. Wade, those who want to terminate a pregnancy go to countries where abortion is legal.
Last year, about 155.000 people crossed state lines for abortion, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and non-governmental organization that fights for greater reproductive rights worldwide.
According to their data, more than 9.200 people went to Virginia in 2024 to terminate pregnancies.
"Bristol's location means this clinic is the closest place for millions of people in the southern US to safely and legally terminate their pregnancies."
Because of its geographical location, Bristol is at the "epicentre of the debate", says Victoria Cobb, director of the Family Foundation (Family Foundation), an organization that lobbies against abortion.
Cobb launched the first in a series of attempts to restrict access to abortion in Bristol, citing local regulations.
This tactic is used by opponents of abortion in states where it is legal.
The logic is simple: if you can't win in Washington, why not fight in the city council?
"The locals don't want their town to become an abortion center," Cobb said.
"We're happy to be able to help them," he adds.
Watch: The suffering of Polish women who want to have an abortion
The Family Foundation previously argued that the clinic's very existence violates zoning regulations, which prohibit the use of facilities in any way that could endanger life.
"Why wouldn't it apply to unborn life?" Cobb asked.
Their initiative calls for a ban on the opening of new clinics in Bristol, and for the expansion of the existing hospital to be prevented.
Similar regulations have been used in other parts of the US to restrict access to abortion, including nearby Washington and Russell counties.
Such efforts largely represent a public expression of opinion on the issue, said Laura Hermer, an expert on abortion regulations in America.
"I would be surprised if many of these cities even have health facilities, let alone ones that perform abortions," she said.
The debate in Bristol flared up when the city council agreed to consider the issue.
“This was more stressful than the parking argument.
"It's not an issue that has been considered at the local level before," Jay Detrick, director of the city's urban planning department, told the BBC.
Ultimately, the city attorney concluded that imposing restrictions on a healthcare facility was not within the city's jurisdiction.
Shortly after the city's decision not to intervene, another group emerged trying to close the clinic, led by Mark Lee Dixon, a pastor from Texas.
The pastor lobbied local governments across the US to enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 federal law that prohibits sending or receiving by mail materials related to birth control that may encourage termination of pregnancy.
The law has become a symbol of censorship and the fight against reproductive rights.
An ordinance implementing the Comstock Act was passed by 23 local governments, and the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Lubbock, Texas, was closed.
Pastor Dixon hopes that the initiative he submitted to Bristol city authorities will have the same outcome.
Although the City Council has not yet considered this initiative, the pastor is optimistic.
"Just because a local authority postpones a debate on an initiative or rejects it does not mean it is dead," Dixon told the BBC.
Kimberly Smith, co-founder of the SLAAP organization, expects new campaigns.
She says abortion opponents are targeting Bristol because of its unusual political structure.
"They come here because we were a red (Republican) part of a blue (Democratic) state."
"If they succeed in undermining the system here, then they weaken the entire legal framework of the federal state."
Even if the clinic wins the lawsuit and remains in its current location, its opponents will not give up, Pastor Dixon tells the BBC.
"As long as the cries of unborn babies are stifled in Bristol, there will be pressure on the City Council to fulfil its obligation to protect the unborn residents of Bristol," he added.
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