Mississippi has become the ninth state to ban abortions after the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
This morning, in compliance with the provisions of section 41-41-45 of the Mississippi Code, Attorney General Lynn Fitch published the required certification in the Mississippi Administrative Bulletin for what is known as the state trigger law.
That means abortions are banned, and babies are legally protected from conception for the first time since 1973. The law protects babies from birth and prohibits abortion, except for a formal rape charge or for preserving the mother’s life.
“Mississippi’s laws to promote life are solid, and thanks to the Court’s clear and strong opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, they can now come into effect,” Attorney General Lynn Fitch said. “As we’ve said throughout this case, Roe v. Wade presented a wrong choice between a woman’s future and her child’s life. As we move forward in this post-Roe world, the people of Mississippi and all states will be able to participate fully in the work of both empowering women and advancing life. I am grateful that the Court has given us this opportunity.”
Mississippi’s Trigger Act requires Attorney General Lynn Fitch to publish her finding (1) that the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s decision and (2) that it is reasonably probable that the Trigger Act of Mississippi Mississippi would be upheld by the Court as constitutional.
Following the news, local media reported that the state’s only abortion case would close.
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“The Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs that the appropriate standard for courts to use to challenge the state’s abortion laws is a rational review,” General Fitch continued. “And by that standard, Mississippi’s regulations for protecting human life would be adhered to. We argued in front of the Court in December that it was time to end the special rules for abortion cases, and we are pleased that the Court has done just that by returning this important issue to the people to the political process.”
Specifically, the Court considered the following:
“Under our precedents, rational assessment is the right standard for…challenges [to state abortion regulations]† … It follows that states can regulate abortion for legitimate reasons, and when such rules are challenged under the Constitution, courts cannot “substitute their social and economic convictions for the judgment of legislative bodies.”… A law governing abortion, like other health and welfare laws, is entitled to a ‘strong presumption of validity’. … It must be sustained if there is a rational basis on which the legislature could have thought it would serve legitimate state interests. … These legitimate interests include respect for and preservation of prenatal life at all stages of development …; protecting maternal health and safety; the elimination of particularly horrific or barbaric medical procedures; preserving the integrity of the medical profession; the reducing of fetal pain, and the prevention of discrimination based on race, sex or disability.”
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding a 5-4 majority decision in the Dobbs case that “the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, allowing states to restrict abortions further and remove the false viability standard.
“We believe that Roe and Casey should be overruled. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote before the majority.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and such a right is not implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one that Roe and Casey’s defenders now primarily rely on — the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Judge Samuel Alito wrote. in the opinion of the majority. “That provision is held to guarantee some rights not mentioned in the Constitution, but such a right must be ‘deeply rooted in the history and tradition of this nation’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’.”
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was destroyed and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions, and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state to protect babies from abortion, Kentucky became 4th, Louisiana became 5th, Ohio became 6th, Utah became 7th, Oklahoma became 8th, and Alabama became 9th.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or expeditiously ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 states with trigger laws that effectively ban all or most abortions are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
“Abortion poses a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was wrong from the start. The reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have fueled debate and deepened divisions.”
This is a milestone for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After nearly 50 years of staining the moral fabric of our country, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer wrote a joint dissent condemning the decision to allow states to impose “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show that Americans support abortion.