the this is "nightline." >> tonight, the last clinic? the community the at the tiat t the abortion case. on the line, women's access to abortion. >> we are loud and we are heard! >> a case that may change reproductive health care across the country. >> every single life is precious. >> now the clinic fighting for its very survival as new laws could mean a new reality in america. >> while this case directly affects all the clinics in louisiana, it's going to affect other sta well. plus the stand-up guy, laughing all wait y to the

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good evening. thanks for joining us. we're about to take you inside what may become the last abortion clinic in louisiana. struggling to survive at the center of the supreme court case that could affect access to abortion across the country. here's abc's gloria riviera. >> my body! my decision! >> reporter: rallying cries of a cultural divide. >> every single life is precious! >> reporter: a woman's access to an abortion, now before a conservative-leaning supreme court for the first time since president trump took office. >> what matters is that we are loud! and weheard!coicnps of the supreme court. >> we have a lot of work to do. a lot of work to do in fighting for unborn children. >> reporter: kathleen pitman has

just stood before the highest court no the land. she's here to fight in a case that could set the precedent for the entire nation, a ruling many feel could weaken roe versus wade. >> i cannot tell you how moving it is to see all of you here. all of these faces rallying behind us, behind a small, independent clinic in northwest louisiana. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: here, 1200 miles away from our nation's capital in shreveport, louisiana, the real battle unfolds. >> wicked, unimaginable! >> reporter: pitman's small clinic at risk of closing if it's forced to comply with a new state law restrictingerrm artioe outside, a scene the clinic staff is all too familiar with. protesters lined up, many who believe abortions are a sin. >> it's hard. you know, to see women go in

here. and come in here with their child in their womb and then leave without it. >> reporter: volunteers double as body guards, escorting the women from the parking lot into the clinic. >> i put it on our umbrella for all of the protesters to see while i'm shielding the patients. >> good morning, thank you for calling pitman medical. how can i help you? >> reporter: inside the clinic is inundated with calls. >> i think i need to write my obit. >> reporter: her staff provides birth control and consultations to 3,000 women in louisiana alone. >> the women we see here, i would say between 70% or 80% live at or below the poverty level. they are women without means. they have transportation to consider. >> reporter: and then there are the out of state patients. >> i would say about 27% are from texas. we also see women from arkansas,

mississippi, oklahoma. occasionally nebraska. >> reporter: as one of the only clinics in the region, pitman and all the staffers feel like they are the last line of densnt women. >> what's at stake? it is highly possible that all but one, if not all clinics will close in louisiana. it's not just this case. while this case directly affects all the clinics in louisiana, it's going to affect other states as well. >> reporter: the weight of that responsibility not lost on anyone. >> i think everybody who works here has a commitment. and a reason for being here. everybody has their own story. >> i was part of that faction of women who's been fed misinformation their whole life and hasn't been given accurate birth control information and what they taught me when i came here, this is how you take control of your reproductive health. >> i enjoy helping the women and hearing their stories, i do, and

being able to givbaus bei ha a baby at 16. and i'm sure if my mom knew something about this place, maybe, just maybe she would have brought me here. >> reporter: this clinic's path to the supreme court began in 2017 when hope medical group sued louisiana after the tstate passed a law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges to hospitals. >> there isn't always a hospital nearby. another reason is these privileges often require a certain number of admissions in each calendar year. and very early abortions are extreme l extremely safe procedures. and they may not need to have admissions. >> admitting privileges sound good on paper, but they're really a catch-22. >> reporter: travis is one of the lawyers representing the medical group before the court. >> if this law goes into effect

all the doctors at hope medical clinic will be put out of business and the clinic will close. >> they need to be able to regulate and protect women's health. and this law does that. >> reporter: elizabeth murle argued on behalf of the state of louisiana. one side is saying these doctors cannot get admitting privileges. you are saying no, i think they could. why? >> i'm not saying it. this idea that all the clinics are going to close, that they can't get privileges, that's all simply not accurate. >> reporter: why have not other clinics opened up knowing the regulations or knowing what will be asked of them, to have these admitting privileges? >> i can't speak to what clinics think or doctors think, there are a couple thousand doctors in the state of louisiana that are eligible under the law, right now. they have admitting privileges. they have the residency requirements. they could contract with any of the open clinics now. >> reporter: so when you see the stat, 1% of all abortions result

in complications, what is your reaction? >> i think it's wrong. black and white just wrong. i think it's inaccurate. what i can say is i think women deserve to be safe. >> reporter: the last time the supreme court took up abortion was in 2016, striking down the state of texas' attempt to regulate abortion providers. >> we are -- >> reporter: but the court's bench is different now. in the past two years, president trump added two conservative justices, neil gorsuch and brett kavanaugh. >> a lot of courts have said you know what? i think the legal landscape has really changed and they have moved to restrict. >> reporter: louisiana is just the latest of several states to pass laws that abortion advocates say make it harder for women to access safe abortions. "nightline" was on the ground last year in alabama when the state passed a law making it a

crime for doctors to perform abortions, causing an uproar across the country, even inspiring celebrities to speak out. >> who are you to tell me what to do with my body? who are you to make that decision? >> reporter: then again in missouri, when new regulations threatened the state's last abortion clinic. >> one of the strategies of the anti-choice movement for a long time is to try and find ways to chip away access to abortion care and through the process of what we call regulations or targeted regulation of abortion providers. >> reporter: laws like these are becoming a new reality, impacting women in 24 states. >> i think you've seen kind of grass roots momentum of folks across the country going oh, my gosh, this is a reality. we could be the first post-roe generation. >> reporter: that's why actresses like busy philipps are speaking out sharing her own abortion story. >> we're at a critical moment in

government, truly. the question becomes, are we going to uphold the law? are we just going to throw everything out? we have to believe women. we have to trust women. >> reporter: it's a belief shared bit hope medical group's staff. >> i plan to eat lots of chocolate tonight for energy. we'll need it tomorrow. >> reporter: back home in louisiana they rally morale for the road ahead. >> this is to hope, the women we serve, the center for reproductive rights. >> reporter: this small group at the epicenter of a big fight reminding themselves of what matters most. >> what we need to do is concentrate on the here and now, take care of the patients currently in our care and make sure they have everything they need and really hope for the best. >> the supreme court won't hand down its decision until june. >> reporter: up next, laughing

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you know, sebastian maniscalco knows how to draw in a crowd, pulling from personal experiences to bring down the house with his stand-up comedy. how did he become one of the highest-paid comedians in the world? >> you ever dress an infant? they have no core!

so it's -- >> reporter: for comedian sebastian maniscalco, stand-up is life. it's minutes to showtime. he's backstage with his thoughts. >> being wheeled in in a box underneath the stage. i'll come up very dramatic. i have the utmost confidence going into this show. i don't play on fear. i know my act. i know my material. >> reporter: he's about to perform in front of almost 22,000 fans here at the united center in his hometown of chicago. the crowd can't get enough. the >> maybe if i'm feeling good i'll hit the treadmill. i did that last week. got on my treadmill there, and there was eight empty treadmills next to me. so i put it on a 5.0. the it's not too high. not too slow. it's a valet jog, let me go g m. >> reporter: after decades of working in the clubs he's now one of the highest-paid comedians in the world, selling

out arenas, even breaking the record for the highest-grossing comedy event last year at madison square garden. >> i talk about going to tj maxx. anybody been in this nightmare? i thought i walked into downtown beirut. i thought a bomb went off at this store. everything is on the floor! how are they shopping at that store? what are they, pulling stuff off the shelf? this is not my size. >> reporter: it's bits like this that have helped him break through on the stage and now on the big screen. in last year's best picture "green book", and this year's "the irishman." >> so help you god. >> i do. >> be seated. >> i wanted to do some drama. i wanted to kind of challenge myself. i'm kind of a serious guy. >> reporter: how would you describe your comedy?

>> my comedy is a mirror of kind of what's going on in my own life. >> reporter: what were some of the pieces of comedy that really, you felt caught fire? >> a bit that seemed to lot peo doorbell bit. >> 20 years ago, your doorbell doorbell rings? happy moment in it's like, what the [ bleep ]? >> almost like a multi-generational joke, where people who are 80 got it, and people who were 13 got it, and everybody in between, which i think caught on fire virally. >> reporter: jerry seinfeld who sebastian reveres loved it so much he invited him on his netflix show, "comedians in cars getting coffee." >> reporter: the 46-year-old married father of two might have a career reaching new heights but to his family back home he's

just sebastian. >> ooh. last time i was here was about, i don't know, maybe six months ago. t >> reporter: we're with him in arlington heights, illinois, visiting the house he grew up in. he has humor in life's every day moments. >> he asked me what i paid for stuff, constantly. can't tell your parents the full price. they'll have a heart attack. you got to knock 90% off. >> people gravitate towards that material, because they felt like i was lafi living on their block in their house. >> reporter: it was clear early on sebastian loved nothing more than a crowd. >> i did "billie jean" at the ice cream social with my dad's hat. >> reporter: sebastian honed his craft at the comedy store in los angeles. >> i could smell your

from behind me. put the enquirer down. >> from the northwest suburbs of chicago with a mother who is a secretary and a father who is a beautician, i didn't know the first thing about getting into the entertainment business. so i just did what kind of came naturally for me. >> reporter: and what came naturally for him is poking fun at his sicilian father. >> half sicilian, half italian. if you talk to my father, you're sicilian, you're sicilian. okay, dad, relax. oh, my god. wow. >> welcome. >> what's up? what's up? my god. >> reporter: on this saturday, this hometown hero visits his dad's salon to get cleaned up, an event for the entire town. >> i used to tell him, who the

hell cut your hair? >> i go, dad, he's 73 years old. he's still cutting hair. i'm like, it's over, bro. we're done. how long are you going to cut hair? you're going to be 80 years old behind the chair? >> we want to get about 30 people. >> reporter: before his big show, he gathers his family and friends for a night out. when you look at your audience, who do you see out there? >> people coming together for an hour and half just laughing, like a holiday. >> reporter: after "60 minutes" of near constant laughter, a very personal curtain call. >> tonight i thought it would be a great idea to bring out four friends to take a photo. >> reporter: for this comedian, these moments are few and far between but ones to savor. >> siee you on the other side. >> reporter: for "nightline," gloria rivera in chicago. >> and a little reminder, can you watchful localish episodes

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