Mississippi governor Phil Bryant has put a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with several exceptions.
Statistics show that four in every 10 unintended pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. Though recent reports have suggested that abortion rates have dropped to the lowest since 1973, the numbers are still quite high. Mississippi governor Phil Bryant took an important step earlier this week by signing a ban that prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
"Today is an important day for protecting the unborn and the health and safety of women in Mississippi," Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement. "Medical research shows that an unborn child can feel pain by not later than 20 weeks gestation, and research also shows that the risk of death and complications from an abortion increases significantly as a pregnancy progresses."
The ban, termed House Bill 1400, will be effective July 1, 2014. However, there are a few cases that will be exempted from the new ban. These include medical emergencies or if the fetus suffers risk of not surviving, however it does not include cases of rape and incest.
Previous to this, Bryant had said he wanted to close Jackson Women's Health Organization, the last abortion clinic in the state. However, the Center for Reproductive Rights backed the organization saying it only provided services through 16 weeks of pregnancy, according to Huffington Post.
The law has already gained its fair share of controversies, with pro-choice advocates calling the ban "dangerous" and "unconditional."
"With the women and families of their state facing extreme poverty, unacceptable rates of maternal mortality, and skyrocketing teen pregnancy, Mississippi's elected officials have more than enough real work to do to bolster women's well-being in their state," Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "It's time for these politicians to stop passing laws that attack constitutionally protected women's health care."
In January this year, the state of Arizona tried implementing a similar law but was turned down by the U.S. Supreme court. Judges ruled that the Arizona law went against the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus can survive on its own, which is no earlier than 24 weeks into the pregnancy, a period known as viability. The Roe v. Wade case states that no government can intervene in a healthy woman's pregnancy until the last trimester.
