Mississippi's six-week abortion ban struck down
Source: CBS News
Mississippi's controversial "fetal heartbeat" ban, an effective six-week ban on abortion, was just struck down by a federal judge, according to a spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights, the law firm that challenged the state law.
A three-judge panel of the Fifth District issued its decision Thursday afternoon, writing, "[A]ll agree that cardiac activity can be detected well before the fetus is viable. That dooms the law. If a ban on abortion after 15 weeks is unconstitutional, then it follows that a ban on abortion at an earlier stage of pregnancy is also unconstitutional."
Thursday's decision temporarily will block the law from going into effect, upholding a lower court's decision from May 2019. In December, the Fifth Circuit also struck down a 15-week abortion ban passed by Mississippi.
"A ban at six weeks of pregnancy means many of our patients would lose their right to have an abortion before they even know they're pregnant," said Shannon Brewer, director of Jackson Women's Health Organization, the state's only abortion provider. "Most of our patients are past that point. Some have spent weeks saving money for the procedure and have driven hundreds of miles to reach us."
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mississippis-six-week-abortion-ban-struck-down/ar-BB10dxZJ?li=BBnb7Kz
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