Earlier today, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed House Bill 1510 into law, which will restrict women from obtaining an abortion after 15 weeks gestation. This new law so far is the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban.
Bryants hope with the ban is to protect the health of child and mother.
"As I have repeatedly said, I want Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child," Bryant said.
Previously, the law allowed women to seek abortions, within the state, up to 20-weeks. Mississippi currently houses only a sole abortion clinic, the Women's Health Organization, located in Jackson. Rob Mcduff, a lawyer representing the clinic, has claimed that the ban is unconstitutional and has requested a temporary restraining order. Mcduff gives an example of a woman who was scheduled to have an abortion this afternoon and would have been immediately affected by the law.
An emergency conference call in front of Federal District Judge Carlton Reeves, led to Rob Mcduff winning a 10-day temporary restraining order against the ban.
Many in opposing stances of the ban have pointed to the fact that this law does not include exemptions in cases of rape or incest.
Paul Barnes, the special assistant to the attorney general, says the ban's intent is to protect women and limit the growing risk correlated with further development.
“Abortions being performed at 12, 13, 14, 15, each of those weeks, the risk goes up,” says Barnes. “That is one of the harms this bill is designed to protect. … Risk increases exponentially from one week to the next.”