This is a landmark day for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After staining the moral fabric of our country for nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade is no more.
The last remaining abortion business in Mississippi will finally close down tomorrow [July 7, 2022] when the state’s new abortion ban officially takes effect.
As LifeNews reported, Mississippi was one of 10 states to ban abortions following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Thanks to a state judge who denied a request from Mississippi’s last remaining abortion business to stay open, the new ban protecting babies will take effect tomorrow.
In accordance with the provisions governing Section 41-41-45 of the Mississippi Code, Attorney General Lynn Fitch published the required certification to Mississippi’s Administrative Bulletin for what is known as the State’s trigger law. That meant abortions are now banned and babies are legally protected from conception for the first time since 1973. The law protects babies from conception and bans abortions except in the case of a formal charge of rape or for the preservation of the mother’s life.
But the Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion company challenged the ban in a last ditch effort to stay open. Yesterday, Special Chancellor Debbra K. Halford denied its request to block the law while its lawsuit continues.
As a result, the JWHO abortion business will close down tomorrow, according to the Washington Post.
“Without any further action, today will be the last day that Jackson Women’s Health can provide abortion care,” said Hillary Schneller, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights who represents the abortion center.
Robert McDuff, another attorney for the clinic, said that the legal team is considering next steps, including a possible appeal in the coming days, but the clinic will not be able to continue offering services while the case winds its way through the courts.
“As for now, the prospects for reopening the clinic are not very good,” McDuff said.
JWHO claims a 1998 Mississippi Supreme Court opinion, Pro Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, ruled the Mississippi Constitution contains a right to privacy that “includes an implied right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.”
But Halford noted that the judges in that case relied on Roe and Casey for their decision. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned both, neither of those cases are precedent on abortion.
“Since Roe and Casey are no longer the law of the land, reliance upon Fordice will almost certainly not be well founded when pursuing this case at the (Mississippi) Supreme Court,” Halford wrote.
JWHO will now close, babies will be saved, and women will find better alternatives.
Owner Diane Derzis says she plans to reopen the abortion business under the name “The Pink House West” in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where abortions are legal up to birth.
Under Mississippi’s trigger law, Attorney General Lynn Fitch is required to publish her determination (1) that the United States Supreme Court has overruled the decision of Roe v. Wade and (2) that it is reasonably probable that Mississippi’s trigger law would be upheld by the Court as constitutional.
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