A federal judge has temporarily blocked a law in Mississippi banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected.
What We Know:
- A Mississippi federal judge, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, has granted the request made by the lone abortion clinic in the state, Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
- Reeves blocks this bill after blocking another bill similar to it in November 2018 which was set to ban abortions after 15 weeks. He considered this more restrictive bill a “smack of defiance” to the court.
- Reeves wrote in his ruling that this bill “threatens immediate harm to women’s rights, especially considering most women do not seek abortion services until after [six] weeks. [It] prevents a woman’s free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy, this injury outweighs any interest the State might have in banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.”
- Mississippi is just one of the 15 states trying to pass new, more restrictive abortion laws. Most recently including the controversial laws signed in Alabama and Georgia.
- Hillary Schneller represented the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, stated at 6 weeks “no embryo is capable of surviving for a sustained period outside the womb, with or without medical intervention.”
- Prior to leaving for deliberation in the matter, Reeves pointed out to the proponents of the law that there were no exceptions for rape or incest victims which particularly seemed to disturb him.
Many states are still going through the process of passing these restrictive laws but we hope this isn’t the last to get blocked.
