Mississippi’s Six-Week Abortion Ban Struck Down By Federal Judge

Last year, Mississippi was one of several states that were attempting to ban abortions either completely or at the six-week mark. Well, a federal judge has finally ruled on Mississippi’s proposed law to make abortions illegal at six weeks—and those who are pro-choice will be very happy with the decision.

As reported by @CBSNews, Mississippi’s highly controversial “fetal heartbeat” ban, which is a ban on women receiving abortions once they reach six weeks of pregnancy, was officially struck down by a federal judge panel. According to a spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights, the law firm that initially challenged the law, the decision was made only hours ago.

The recent decision will act to temporarily block the “fetal heartbeat” law from going into effect and further upholding a lower court’s decision from back in May 2019. This isn’t the first time a similar abortion ban was struck down, as a 15-week abortion ban proposed by the state of Mississippi was also struck down by the Fifth Circuit court.

The three-judge panel of the Fifth District issued its final ruling on the six-week abortion ban via a written statement outlining how they were able to come to the decision:

“[A]ll agree that cardiac activity can be detected well before the fetus is viable. That dooms the law. If a ban on abortion after 15 weeks is unconstitutional, then it follows that a ban on abortion at an earlier stage of pregnancy is also unconstitutional.”

Georgia also recently claimed a similar victory, as the state’s proposed “heartbeat bill” was struck down back in October after being blocked by a federal judge.

Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?