Judge Temporarily Blocks New Mississippi Law Banning Abortions at 15 Weeks

Calvin Freiburger : Mar 21, 2018
Lifesitenews.com

Within an hour of the bill's signing, the pro-abortion Center of Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Women's Health Organization (WHO) in Jackson, demanding that Judge Carlton Reeves immediately block HB 1510 from being enforced.

(Jackson, MS)—[Lifesitenews.com] A federal judge has temporarily blocked Mississippi's new ban on abortions at 15 weeks, less than 24 hours after it was signed into law. (Photo: Judge Carlton Reeves/Credit: Megan Bean/Mississippi State University/via LifeSiteNews)

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves has granted a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of HB 1510, the law Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed yesterday prohibiting abortions from being performed beyond fifteen weeks for any reason other than physical medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormalities.

The law bans abortion earlier than any other law currently in effect, a fact Bryant, a Republican, proudly touted on social media. "We are saving more of the unborn than any state in America, and what better thing can we do?" he said at the bill's signing.

Citing legal precedent, Reeves said that HB 1510 simply draws the line earlier than what the Supreme Court allows. "That right protects her choice 'to have an abortion before viability'" he wrote. "States cannot 'prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision' to do so."

Further, while the temporary ruling was not a final decision on the merits of the case, Reeves' language indicated his final decision would be the same. "Does the state have the right to trump the woman's right to have control over her decisions, over her body?" he asked.

The law took effect immediately, leading the state's last abortion facility to sue almost as rapidly.

ABC News reports that within an hour of the signing, the pro-abortion Center of Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Women's Health Organization (WHO) in Jackson, demanding that Reeves immediately block HB 1510 from being enforced. As LifeSiteNews recounted yesterday, WHO owner Diane Derzis has maintained abortion facilities in multiple states, and has a checkered past that includes Alabama shutting down her Birmingham location for a series of medical violations that led to at least two medical emergencies.

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