Mississippi Versus Abortion

For the millions of women who just love getting abortions, Mississippi is really trying to be the first to get off of your abortion tour of the U.S. First, it tried to declare that a fertilized egg was a person, but the residents pushed back.

Then, not willing to drop the issue, the state with highest teen pregnancy rate in the country passed another law that will effectively close the only abortion clinic left in the state. The new law, which was supposed to go into effect July 1, 2012, requires all physicians associated with an abortion clinic to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Since three of the four doctors willing to perform abortions at the Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Mississippi are from outside the state, this move would have shut the clinic down.

Luckily, the owner of the clinic, Diane Derzis, was not going to allow this blatant end-run around the Constitution to go unchecked. The clinic filed suit in federal court last week to prevent the law from going into effect. On Sunday night, U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan agreed and issued a temporary restraining order to stop Mississippi from enforcing the law, noting that the law’s supporters, including Gov. Phil Bryant, very clearly have stated that the true purpose of the law was to eliminate abortions in the state.

Since Roe v. Wade established that states can’t make abortions illegal, Mississippi will just have to waste a little more of the time and money it doesn’t have to violate federal law while simultaneously treating women like subhuman chattel. Better luck at the hearing on July 11, where Judge Jordan will decide whether or not to make extend his injunction.