The CEO of Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only clinic in state that performs abortions, says Mississippi's 15 week abortion ban could lead to overturning Roe v. Wade. Diane Derzis says the law allows a woman to have an abortion up to viability of the fetus, when it can survive outside the womb. Derzis says that's about 24 weeks. She says Mississippi's law will test whether states can ban abortions before the fetus can live on its own.
"It's dire, outrageous that in 2021, we are poised to overturn a precedent and a freedom that women have been able to utilize for years."
Derzis says her clinic doesn't perform abortions after 16 weeks. She's says she's concerned because the the makeup of the Supreme Court is more conservative. Laura Knight is president of Pro Life Mississippi, a non-profit organization opposed to abortion.
"We're encouraged that the Supreme Court has taken up this case. The Supreme Court's decision to hear the case gives us hope for the future of our state's freedom to pass laws that protect pre-born children and their mother's from abortion," said Knight.
A federal judge and a panel of an appeals court ruled the state's 15 week ban unconstitutional. The state also passed a 6 week ban that was temporarily blocked on appeal last year.
