Jackson, Miss., Mar 20, 2018 / 11:30 am
A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a Mississippi law which bans most abortions after 15 weeks into pregnancy.
It is the most restrictive abortion law in the US.
US District Judge Carlton Reeves temporarily blocked the Gestational Age Act March 20, one day after it was signed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant.
A suit was filed against the law within hours of its signing by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The center argues that a "state may not ban abortion before viability." Viability is currently typically placed at around 24 weeks.
Dr. Sacheen Carr-Ellis of the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the state's only abortion clinic, saying a woman at least 15 weeks pregnant was scheduled to have an abortion Tuesday afternoon.
The state argued that it has an interest in protecting the life of the unborn, as well as maternal health.
The law was passed by the state legislature earlier in the month. It permits abortion past 15 weeks when the mother's life or major bodily function is in danger or when the unborn child has a severe abnormality which is incompatible with life outside the womb at full term. Exceptions are not granted for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Under the law, physicians knowingly in violation can lose their state medical licenses, and receive a civil penalty of up to $500 if they falsify records about the circumstances of the procedure.
State records indicate about 200 abortions a year are performed on women 15 to 20 weeks pregnant; according to the suit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Jackson Women's Health Organization performed 78 abortions past 15 weeks in 2017.
Prior to the passage of the new law, Mississippi barred abortion at 20 weeks into pregnancy. It also requires that those performing abortions be board-certified or -eligible obstetrician-gynecologists, and that a woman receive in-person counseling and wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion.
Signing the bill, Bryant said that "We are saving more of the unborn than any state in America, and what better thing we could do? We'll probably be sued here in about a half hour, and that'll be fine with me. It'll be worth fighting over."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's a great day in Mississippi as we move to make our state the safest place in the nation for an unborn child. I was proud to stand with members of the pro-life community as Gov. <a href="https://twitter.com/PhilBryantMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PhilBryantMS</a> signed the ban on abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. <a href="https://t.co/xWQNgjyTUn">pic.twitter.com/xWQNgjyTUn</a></p>— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) <a href="https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/975835841766526976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said at the signing that the state would be prepared for pay to defend the law in court: "I don't know if you can put any value on human life. We are all about fighting to protect the unborn. Whatever challenges we have to take on to do that, is something we're willing to do."
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