This past week, the governor of Mississippi signed into law a bill that would ban abortions past 15 weeks into the pregnancy. The bill, called the Gestational Age Act, moved swiftly through the staunchly conservative bodies of the Mississippi legislature and was signed on Monday.
Abortion rights supporters reacted strongly to the bill, calling it the earliest abortion ban in the country and claiming it defied numerous Supreme Court rulings in the past decade. The Jackson Women’s Health Association, Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic, quickly filed a motion against the law.
The governor stated he expected a quick challenge from the abortion clinic but was optimistic about the bill overall. “We are saving more of the unborn than any state in America, and what better thing we could do,” stated Mr. Bryant, a second-year Republican governor.
In reaction to the law, a federal judge put the bill on hold. This ruling occured after an emergency hearing that deemed the local clinic’s argument of unconstitutionality was very likely to succeed.
After temporarily blocking the bill, Judge Carlton W. Reeves wrote, “The law threatens immediate, irreparable harm to Mississippians’ abilities to control their destiny and body. This is especially true for one women scheduled to have a 15 week abortion this afternoon. A brief delay enforcing a law of dubious constitutionality does not outweigh that harm.”
PV students also reacted strongly to the bill. Senior Ramya Kumar stated in response, “The bill is a clear infringement of a women’s right to control her own body. Women have the right to have an abortion, and should not be blocked by futile attempts from conservatives in Mississippi.”
The order blocks the bill for ten days. By the end of that time, it is likely the judge will issue a motion to further block the bill for a longer period of time.
Mississippi law formerly had stood at 20 weeks. According to several lawyers on the case, the precedent set by Roe v. Wade had prevented a ban on abortions before they are deemed viable outside the womb, typically around 24-26 weeks.
Mississippi’s previous law was already likely unconstitutional, but because the sole clinic in Mississippi stops providing abortions after 16 weeks, the previous law had stood unchallenged.
Given the legal precedent on abortion, such a bill will almost assuredly crumble in court. Katherine Klein from the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the whole exercise was an act of futility, saying, “The governor is signing a clearly unconstitutional bill that’s just going to waste taxpayer money in the inevitable litigation that is to come,”
Proponents of the bill believe differently. James Taylor, acting President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, said, “This legislation is intended to encourage that dialogue between the states and the courts, as to what is the line at which states can regulate abortion, in particular for the sake of protecting maternal health.”
While the bill’s future will likely be short lived, its passage does highlight the fact that despite numerous court rulings in its favor, abortion remains a topic of contention even at the state level.
