U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves blocked a Mississippi law banning abortions past 15 weeks. The law was in effect for just 18 hours, according to Mississippi Today, before Reeves placed a restraining order on it. The order was made permanent after Reeves declared it was unconstitutional on Tuesday.
“The State chose to pass a law it knew was unconstitutional to endorse a decades-long campaign, fueled by national interest groups, to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Reeves wrote in the court opinion. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant made it clear that he was expecting the controversy, Mississippi Today reported. After signing the controversial bill into law in March, Bryant said, “We’ll probably be sued in about half an hour. That’ll be fine with me. It’ll be worth fighting over.”
NEW: A federal judge in Mississippi today blocked the state from enforcing its 15-week abortion ban, calling it “unequivocally” unconstitutional — he accused the state of passing a law it knew was unconstitutional to try to force a Roe v. Wade showdown https://t.co/jIWEn4kP7m pic.twitter.com/EHcLrolsDR
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 20, 2018
Reproductive rights organizations like Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights hailed Reeves’ action as a victory for reproductive rights. Nancy Northup, the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said, “Today’s decision should be a wake-up call for state lawmakers who are continuously trying to chip away at abortion access.”
BREAKING: Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban: blocked. “Today’s decision should be a wake-up call for state lawmakers who are continuously trying to chip away at abortion access. Such bans will not stand in a court of law.” – Nancy Northup, President & CEO https://t.co/Z5TbqTFAOV pic.twitter.com/bmeUZoqaTw
— Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) November 20, 2018
Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban: BLOCKED.
“The State chose to pass a law it knew was unconstitutional to endorse a decades-long campaign, fueled by national interest groups, to ask the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.” https://t.co/xO3qtv1qWR
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) November 20, 2018
A Louisiana law banning abortion after 15 weeks based on this piece of Mississippi legislation is now on hold, according to WAFB. The law was signed by the Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards earlier this year, but the language it contains is too similar to Mississippi’s legislation to go into effect after Reeves’ condemnation.