CARBONDALE, Ill. (WSIL) -- Over the summer, the city of Carbondale thrust itself into the middle of the ever-heated debate on abortion.
In May, it was announced that CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health, a clinic based out of Memphis, Tennessee, would open in the fall. The clinic opened on Tuesday.
Right now, the clinic is offering medication abortion services and says it will begin offering surgical abortions as soon as they can. A CHOICES representative told News 3 they don't have a date set on when those procedures will begin.
For the past 28 days, pro-life groups like Coalition Life gathered outside the clinic calling for its closure.Â
It's part of the '40 Days of Life' according to group member Grace Walker.
"It means that we're out here for 40 days consectively and praying and hoping for an end to abortion," Walker said.
After the interview, Walker and fellow group member Dana Greenlee said a prayer outside the clinic.
"I really feel like Carbondale for the most part is pretty pro-life. Maybe not everyone is going to stand out there with a sign but there's so many people that get so excited that we're here," Greenlee said.
Walker also wore a sign that read 'Honk if you're pro-life', drawing dozens of honks in support of their message.
"The other day I counted and we had 130 honk for us and we had nine people flip us off," Greenlee said.
Despite opposition, Walker, who has protested for 28 consecutive days, will continue to stick to her message. Greenlee says she was drawn to come out last Wednesday and has been coming each day since.
"I really love life and I feel I have a right to live and so do other people," Greenlee said.
CHOICES representatives were not available for official comment.