Many laws have been passed over the last couple of years to restrict women's access to abortion and contraceptives. These laws, which almost always pass in Republican controlled states, obstruct a woman's freedom to control their bodies.

Mississippi is one of the states in question. It's Republican governor, Phil Bryant, has been adamant about his stance on abortion, claiming that he wishes to "make Mississippi abortion-free." On April 2012, the state passed a law that would shut down Mississippi's sole abortion clinic, according to the National Journal.

The Jackson Women's Health Organization, which runs the clinic, sued and halted the law's implementation; however, this Monday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit will hear oral arguments. Its decision could force the clinic to close. According to the legislation passed two years ago, physicians who perform more than 10 abortions a year are required to be certified in obstetrics and gynecology and have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, reports the National Journal.

In an attempt to placate the state, the clinic tried to fulfill the requirements without much success. According to Diane Derzis, owner of the clinic, no hospitals in the area will accept them.

"We applied to every hospital -- eight to 10 of them," she said. "The Catholic hospital turned us down immediately. The rest took a while, but turned us down without looking at the physicians. They put in writing that they were unable to handle the public press from this; they were upfront about it. It's clear the politics prevailed with this whole thing."

Derzis explained that the clinic sees about 2,200 women who want to have abortions a year. The National Journal reports that Mississippi had the highest teen birth rate in 2010 and the second highest in 2011. To apply even more pressure on the clinic and the women of Mississippi, a new law has been passed that bans abortions after 20 weeks.

According to Reuters, the law will go into effect this July and has been touted by Governor Bryant as a success. Any doctor who disobeys the ban, according to the law, will lose his or her license.