Jackson Free Press

Clarion-Ledger is reporting: "Mississippi's new abortion law infringes on a woman's 14th Amendment right to have an abortion early in the second trimester, a federal judge has ruled. In a ruling made public today, U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee kept in place a preminary injunction he issued July 2 that prevented the law from going into affect. The law would have limited abortions after the 13th week of pregnancy to hospitals and ambulatory surgical clinics."

"Jackson Women's Health Organization, one of two abortion clinics in the state, had challenged the new law in court. Lee said: 'It would hardly be reasonable to conclude that the state's effective decision to ban early second- trimester abortions by this plaintiff, without reference to whether it meets the relevant health and safety criteria, does anything to further the state's professed desire to protect the health and safety of women who choose abortion.'"

"Mississippi's abortion laws were already among the most restrictive in the country, and the clinic had argued that no woman would be able to get an abortion in the state, after the 13th week of pregnancy, under the new law."

Previous Comments

ID

137612

Comment

Gov. Barbour released a statement following the abortion decision: "This is a sad day for all pro-life Mississippians. I will support all available legal means to ensure that this law will ultimately prevail and begin providing better care for mothers and more protections for the unborn."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-23T17:42:18-06:00

ID

137613

Comment

Let's provide protection for the already born. Like fully funded education and health services, for instance.

Author

kate

Date

2004-07-23T17:48:33-06:00

ID

137614

Comment

Only the unborn matteróespecially when they provide a juicy wedge issue to divide people with. What kills me is that Barbour had to know damn well that this law was unconstitutional. If I believed he really meant it, I would respect him a whole lot more. But politicians put up these laws just to divide people and deflect attention from issues that affect everyone every day -- like public education and health care. I think more and more people are getting tired of wedge issues like abortion and gay marriage, though. They're starting to see what happens (or doesn't, in the case of terrorism) behind closed doors while they're all fighting out the wedge issues.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-23T18:21:02-06:00

ID

137615

Comment

I have met a handful of anti-abortion people in my lifetime who argue just as vociferously for the rights of downtrodden children and adults as they do against abortion. Some of those same people are against the death penalty, and are especially concerned about its unfair application. Those are people I respect despite my disagreement with them on abortion rightsóbecause I believe they hold their views because they truly respect the right to life. However, anyone who argues for the right to life for the unborn, but who doesn't give a damn about the rights and needs of the poor and disadvantaged once they're born, are sad, and totally unconvincing. It's no wonder their numbers are shrinking, even in Mississippi.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-23T19:57:04-06:00

ID

137616

Comment

You have just described the people I call Pro-Birth. That is their only goal, besides protecting frozen embryos from those evil stem cell researchers.

Author

corrosiongone

Date

2004-07-23T22:29:35-06:00