DIOCESAN NEWS
01/20/12
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Since 1973, over 150,700
abortions performed in state
JACKSON — Since the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, about 50 million legal abortions have been performed in the U.S. Of that number more than 150,700 have been performed in Mississippi.
In a state that once housed seven abortion clinics, Mississippi and one other state have a single abortion clinic in operation. In 2004 the New Woman Medical Center on Briarwood Drive closed its doors leaving the Jackson Women’s Health Organization located in the Fondren district.
At the time of the Roe v. Wade ruling granting women the right to have an abortion, Mississippi only allowed abortion in extreme circumstances. The order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 expanded the ability of women to have an abortion and denied the states the right to establish laws protecting the unborn during the first six months of pregnancy.
States were allowed to pass regulations during the last trimester of pregnancy so long as they did not override the health concerns of the mother, broadly defined by the court to include socio-economic concerns and matters of personal convenience.
As the years have passed since 1973, Mississippi has responded to the Supreme Court mandate for women’s rights to abortion through various ways.
In 1986 Mississippi passed legislation requiring written parental consent before clinics could perform abortions on minors. This law requires both parents’ signatures when applicable before any minor can receive an abortion in the state. The only exceptions fall when there are unreasonable time constraints (i.e. one parent is away for an extended period of time) or parents are divorced and one holds primary custody.
Several laws passed in 1991 required physicians to obtain informed consent from patients no less than 24 hours prior to performing an abortion.
`In 1996 the law requiring informed consent was amended to include certain types of information to be given such as color pictures of the gestational period in 2-week increments and health related problems associated with abortions. Physicians must be registered to practice in Mississippi.
In 1997 Partial-Birth Abortion (PBA) was outlawed in Mississippi.
The U.S. Supreme Court had previously ruled states were under no obligation to fund abortions directly or through any government social programs. In 2002, Mississippi passed a law forbidding such funding except in cases where pregnancy and/or childbirth would cause the death of the mother, was a product of rape or incest, or the child suffered a medical condition causing him or her to die prior to birth or immediately thereafter.
In 2004 laws were passed requiring physicians to report treatment and/or death of patients where abortion was believed to be the cause. Three years later in 2007, the Legislature passed legislation requiring patients be offered the opportunity to view ultrasound images and hear the heartbeats of the baby and sign certification acknowledging they had been given that opportunity.
Also in 2007 Mississippi passed legislation outlawing abortion 10 days after the state attorney general determines the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled the decision of Roe. Exceptions would include cases where abortion is necessary for the preservation of the mother’s life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape.
After the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation in 2010 mandating no abortion coverage may be provided by a qualified health plan offered through an exchange created pursuant to the act.
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