Mississippi Governor to Sign Bill Outlawing Abortion After 20 Weeks

Amanda Casanova | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Apr 02, 2014

Mississippi Governor to Sign Bill Outlawing Abortion After 20 Weeks

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant plans to sign a bill that will ban abortion at 20 weeks.

Under the bill, abortion would be allowed at or after 20 weeks if the baby faces severe fatal abnormality or the woman faces permanent injury or death because of the pregnancy.

“This measure represents a great effort to protect the unborn in Mississippi,” Bryant said in a statement after the bill passed in the House and the Senate.

It passed in the House 91-20 and in the Senate 41-10.

The most recent Health Department statists show more than 2,100 abortions were done in Mississippi in 2012. Two were listed at 21 weeks or later.

Mississippi’s only abortion clinic already stops doing abortions after 16 weeks’ gestation, said Diane Derzis, of Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Other states with a 20-week ban include Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

Sen. Deborah Dawkins, who voted against the bill, said the 20-week ban would affect poor women.

“It occurs to me, over the past few years, that a lot of men do not understand how a female body works,” Dawkins said.



Mississippi Governor to Sign Bill Outlawing Abortion After 20 Weeks