That is why we strongly support HB 1510, the 15-week Abortion Limit bill. This legislation strikes the right balance for Mississippi by protecting the health of the woman considering abortion and by protecting the life of the unborn. In doing so, this commonsense bill protects women from serious and significant risks and protects the life of the unborn child with a beating heart who can move, hear, taste, see, and feel pain.
Consider these facts:
HB 1510 protects women …
- HB 1510 will increase the safety of abortions for the mother by limiting elective abortions to 15-weeks. It will also preserve the legality of abortion where it is necessary to preserve the life of the mother.
- According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood’s think tank), the risk of a mother dying from an abortion increases more than 2,100 percent between 8-weeks and 18-weeks of pregnancy. Maternal mortality increases by 38 percent with every week after 8-weeks gestation.
HB 1510 does not impose an undue burden …
- Nationwide, approximately 95 percent of abortions occur during the first 15-weeks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just 1.1 percent of abortions in Mississippi take place after the fifteenth week.
- The medical and scientific consensus around the world is that abortion after the first trimester is an unsafe option that should be limited. 92 percent of countries limit abortion after the first trimester.
- The United States is one of only four nations that permit abortion-on-demand throughout all 9 months of pregnancy. Any democracy that values life should not have abortion laws that align with North Korea and China.
- Recent national polling (January 2018) indicates the vast majority (76 percent) of voters support commonsense laws regarding abortion, with a limit after the first trimester being one of the preferred options.
HB 1510 is constitutional …
Planned Parenthood relies on old case law from Roe v. Wade (1973) to claim that states can’t regulate pre-viability abortions. This is old law based on old science. A recent Supreme Court decision, Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), upholds the legality of limiting abortion, even in cases of pre-viability:
- “The Act does apply both pre-viability and post-viability because, by common understanding and scientific terminology, a fetus is a living organism while within the womb, whether or not it is viable outside the womb.”
- “Casey rejected both Roe’s rigid trimester framework and the interpretation of Roe that considered all pre-viability regulations of abortion unwarranted. 505 U. S., at 875-876, 878 (plurality opinion). On this point Casey overruled the holdings in two cases because they undervalued the State’s interest in potential life.”
Other U.S. Supreme Court decisions confirm this reasoning:
- PP v. Casey (1992): “The State has an interest in protecting the life of the unborn.”
- Webster v. Reproductive Health (1989): “We do not see why the State’s interest in protecting potential human life should come into existence only at the point of viability, and that there should therefore be a rigid line allowing state regulation after viability but prohibiting it before viability.”
Let our state lawmakers know you support this commonsense bill. Please, also, pray for women and children harmed by abortion.
To read more, see the recent news coverage on HB 1510:
Jameson Taylor, acting president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank that helped lawmakers draft the bill, said the legislation would bring Mississippi in line with the majority of countries across the world that limit abortion after the first trimester.
"The bill is important," he said, "because it takes another step in protecting maternal health and advancing the state's interest in protecting pre-born life."
... But viability was not the only issue, Taylor said.
"The question of viability is no longer the preeminent question that the courts look at," he said. "The question is, what kind of burden does this regulation place? Does this basically make some kind of rational sense? We believe that the 15-week limit certainly meets that standard because you have 75% of countries around the world that limit abortion after the first trimester."
"Clearly, the court's thinking on this issue is evolving, as it should be," he added. "Science is also evolving."
The conservative-leaning Mississippi Center for Public Policy helped craft the bill and praised lawmakers for passing it.
Acting President Jameson Taylor said the bill protects maternal health and “further(s) the state’s interest in protecting unborn human life.” He added that the Center is “thrilled” for having played a role. …
“We would welcome the court to clarify the extent to which states can regulate abortions, particularly with regard to maternal health,” Taylor said.
“Abortion policy in the United States is based on outdated science that the rest of the world rejects,” Dr. Jameson Taylor, acting President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, told LifeSiteNews. “Health care professionals around the world recognize that late-term abortions, those performed after the first trimester, are harmful for women and also violate the integrity of the medical profession itself.”
“Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Senate deserve our support and prayers for making Mississippi a leading voice in protecting basic human rights and women’s health,” he said.
