Well this is great news. Mississippi has now taken the lead on banning abortion in the country, banning it after 15 weeks in a new bill that has just passed the state’s legislature. Now the bill goes to the governor to sign and he will apparently do just that:
The Latest: Mississippi lawmakers pass what is likely to be the nation's most restrictive abortion law, a measure that would make most abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has said he'll sign the bill. https://t.co/uEMk6LR1UN
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 8, 2018
Mississippi lawmakers have passed what is likely to be the nation’s most restrictive abortion law.
The House on Thursday approved by a vote of 75-34 a measure that would make most abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has said he’ll sign the bill. The Mississippi Senate passed the measure on Tuesday.
The bill could spark a court challenge focusing on whether states can ban abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb. The owner of Mississippi’s only abortion clinic has pledged to sue.
There are two exceptions to the bill: if the fetus has a health problem that would prevent it from surviving outside the womb at full term, or if the pregnant woman’s life or a “major bodily function” is threatened by the pregnancy. Pregnancies as a result of rape and incest would not be exempt.
I’m sure this will generate a lawsuit, if not multiple lawsuits.
Let’s hope if this one somehow makes it to the Supreme Court, that they will stand for the life of the unborn this time around, just like the state of Mississippi is doing.
I will say I’m not crazy about the first exception, as sometimes doctors are wrong about whether a baby will survive outside the womb. But I do very much like that they are not exempting rape and incest. A baby’s life, no matter how horrible the circumstances of conception, deserves to be protected.