{"id":178612,"date":"2018-03-06T15:08:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T20:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=178612"},"modified":"2018-03-06T17:29:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T22:29:09","slug":"mississippi-15-week-abortion-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/mississippi-15-week-abortion-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Senate votes to ban abortions after 15 weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The Mississippi Senate passed the earliest abortion ban in the country Tuesday, which would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks.<\/p>\n

State House Bill 1510 passed on a 35-14 vote, and heads back to the House for approval. Gov. Phil Bryant, who tweeted the following message on Twitter, is expected to sign it:<\/p>\n

“As I have repeatedly said, I want Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child. House Bill 1510 will help us achieve that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reports that the bill was amended to remove potential penalties for abortionists:<\/p>\n

The only exceptions to the 15-week cutoff in the bill are a woman\u2019s medical emergency related to the pregnancy or a medical abnormality that makes the fetus \u201cincompatible with life.\u201d There are no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.<\/p>\n

Senators amended the bill to take out possible felony charges for physicians who perform abortions later than 15 weeks. Those who do abortions after that limit would have their professional medical licenses suspended or revoked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mississippi currently bans most abortions after 20 weeks<\/a>. If HB 1510 passes and is signed into law, Mississippi would hold the earliest abortion<\/a> ban in the nation.\u00a0Last month, the state House Judiciary B Committee approved the measure.<\/p>\n

Rep. Andy Gipson, chairman of the Judiciary B Committee, said the bill<\/a> would protect women from the health risks of late-term abortions. “It is medically proven that these abortions performed after the first trimester are extremely dangerous to the mother’s health,” said Gipson, “in addition to the fact that it forces a very late abortion in the process.”<\/p>\n