Last week Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill preventing abortions after 15 weeks, which is the most restrictive ban in the nation. Soon after, the state was sued by the owner of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, claiming the law is unconstitutional on the grounds that it bans abortion weeks before a fetus can survive outside of the womb.
Becky Currie, the author of the bill, is proud of it while she knows there will be some people to disagree with her.
“I’ve had a lot of people email and ask me why we would get the state in a law suit and my answer is, ‘If you’re a conservative legislator and you’re too scared to pass conservative legislation because we may get sued, you need to go home because we’re gonna get sued every time’,” Currie said. “The attorney general’s office has tons of lawyers over there that are already on payroll that defend the state and I believe they’ll do a good job and we’ll move on from here but I do want this state to be the safest state for mothers and babies.”
The legislation also lists health risks for women who chose to get an abortion, and states that the risks increase after 15 weeks.
In abortions performed after fifteen (15) weeks’ gestation, there is a higher risk of requiring a hysterectomy, other reparative surgery, or blood transfusion.
“I think it’s important for women because the previous law states 20 weeks, which is half way through a pregnancy, so I just think that ending these late term abortions will be safer for the mother due to complications they can have during or after the abortion with infection, bleeding and depression and of course we’ll be saving over 200 lives a year with this new bill,” said Currie.
Roe v. Wade determined the right to get an abortion, but left room for interpretation when it came to the ability of individual states to mandate their own rules with the balance of protecting women’s rights and the rights of the unborn child. Governor Bryant has stated that this law will help protect unborn children like no other place.
When asked if she wanted abortion to be outlawed, Currie said, “I’m not here to overturn Roe v. Wade and that’s something the president will be picking judges for the supreme court and other courts, but I am pro-life and I believe that life begins at conception and hopefully we can move in that direction.”
Governor Bryant also said he wants Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child, and he hopes Mississippi will be free of all abortions before he leaves office.
Depending on the outcome of this lawsuit, the bill would become law on July 1st.
