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In Columbus, Georgia, an abortion clinic is in high demand from other states with no access

A member of the security force sits outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
A member of the security force sits outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) A member of the security force sits outside the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

By Grant Blankenship / Georgia Public Broadcasting 2 min read

Diane Derzis thought she was prepared for Roe v. Wade, and the constitutional right to an abortion, to be overturned. At clinics she owns across the South, she had been preparing for months.

“Then you get there and it’s like, ‘Oh my God,'” Derzis said.

(READ MORE: Hamilton County district attorney candidates differ on abortion ruling)

The Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade abruptly ended abortion across much of the South, but not in Georgia, where a case making abortion illegal after six weeks into pregnancy is still in the courts. That means demand in clinics in Atlanta, Augusta and Columbus will likely skyrocket.

Derzis owns the Columbus Women’s Health Organization clinic just across the Chattahoochee River from Alabama, where abortion access ended as soon as Roe was overturned.