The state of Mississippi celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 by passing the most restrictive abortion law in America. But apparently that in itself wasn’t good enough for the Republicans in charge. Because they are seeking to make it illegal to obtain an abortion after 15 weeks, it is the first time that a state has been able to set the abortion ceiling lower than 20 weeks since Roe v. Wade was decided. If this becomes law, women in Mississippi will have been taken back 45 years in time in terms of their reproductive choices. Way to go, fellas.
Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill Thursday outlawing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a measure that would create the nation’s most restrictive abortion law if it is signed by the Republican governor who supports it. [...]
House Bill 1510 does not allow exceptions in cases of rape or incest. It does offer exclusions if the woman’s life or a “major bodily function” is threatened, or if the fetus has a health problem and no chance of survival outside the womb.
It’s infuriating that this is still a battle being fought in 2018. But, sadly, it also isn’t shocking. Republicans are hellbent on harming women, taking away any autonomy that women have to make their own reproductive decisions and remain committed to lying about facts. For years, the entire state has had only one abortion clinic and now that clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is put on the front lines to fend off this disastrous and hideous legislation. What’s more, the state’s governor wants us to think he’s actually helping babies.
“I have repeatedly said, I want Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child,” Governor Bryant tweeted on Tuesday. “House Bill 1510 will help us achieve that goal.”
Except, well facts. Abortion providers are refuting that this bill is based in any kind of science or common sense practice. This is what Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the research group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, had to say about the bill:
Even better, Dr. Grossman reminds Governor Bryant that Mississippi should probably spend more time worried about maternal health outcomes instead of trying to restrict access to abortion.
But that’s Republicans for you. Instead of worrying about the lives and well-being of actual living human beings, they stay worrying about what’s happening in the womb. These men have way too much time on their hands. After all, it’s not like Mississippi doesn’t have its share of problems. In a state with such abysmal social and health indicators (it also leads the nation in poverty and the lowest household income), lawmakers should actually busy themselves trying to fix what’s broken and work on livable wages for their residents. But since we know they won’t do that, they should at least do this one thing: leave women and their bodies alone.