Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Mississippi Enacts 15-Week Abortion Ban


Fetus size and development at 15 weeks
By Associated Press
One News Now


Mississippi's governor has signed the nation's tightest abortion restrictions into law.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1510 on Monday afternoon. It becomes law immediately and bans most abortions after 15 weeks' gestation. Bryant has frequently said he wants Mississippi to be the "safest place in America for an unborn child."

The law's only exceptions are if an unborn child has health problems making him or her "incompatible with life" outside of the womb at full term, or if a pregnant woman's life or a "major bodily function" is threatened by pregnancy. Pregnancies resulting from rape and incest aren't exempted.

Abortion rights advocates are calling the law unconstitutional because it limits abortion before fetuses can live outside the womb. The owner of Mississippi's only abortion clinic opposes the law and has pledged to sue.

Comments to OneNewsNow from Jameson Taylor of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, an organization that helped lawmakers write House Bill 1510:

"The state of Mississippi has an obligation to make abortion as safe as possible, and we applaud the leadership of Governor Phil Bryant (R-MS), the leadership of Lt. Governor Tate Reeves (R-MS) and Speaker Philip Gunn (R-MS) for standing up for women and children with this legislation."
Lawsuits are expected to be filed against the governor and legislators, but Taylor says that should not stop Mississippi from pro-life measures.
"Time after time, the left has said, You can't regulate abortion in this way. For instance, [they've said] You can't have a 24-hour waiting period, you can't have parental consent. We believe that this is a reasonable standard for the state of Mississippi to follow. In fact, this is the standard used by the rest of the world, used by 90 percent of countries around the world. We believe that it's the right thing to do and this will make abortion safer and rarer in Mississippi.
"It is correct that the bill does not include a rape and incest exception, but of course it does allow abortions for rape and incest in the first trimester, and the bill does go into effect immediately on the governor's signature."
Website: One News Now


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