Jackson clinic files lawsuit against Mississippi's "trigger ban" on abortions
Jun. 27—JACKSON — Mississippi's only abortion clinic is continuing to fight to provide legal abortions to patients after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week.
Jackson Women's Health Organization on Monday filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Chancery Court against state officials seeking to prevent Mississippi's "trigger ban" on nearly all abortions from going into effect in 10 days.
The clinic, through its attorneys, are relying on a 1998 decision from the Mississippi Supreme Court that determined Mississippi's Constitution — not just the landmark Roe v. Wade decision — gives its citizens "autonomous bodily integrity" under the right to privacy.
"The Mississippi Supreme Court's 1998 decision interpreting the Mississippi Constitution exists completely independent of the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions about the federal constitution. It is binding precedent." said Rob McDuff, an attorney with the Mississippi Center of Justice, who is representing the clinic.
In the 1998 decision Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, the state's highest court determined that the state Constitution does not give citizens an "explicit right" to an abortion, but it determined independent bodily integrity is protected.
"Protected within the right of autonomous bodily integrity is an implicit right to have an abortion," the decision reads.
Michelle Williams, chief of staff to Attorney General Lynn Fitch, said the AG's office does not comment on pending litigation but believes the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was clear. Williams said the AG "will fight to sustain that victory for Mississippi."
At issue is the state's 2007 "trigger law" set to go into effect in 10 days, which allows physicians to conduct abortions when a mother's life is at stake or when the pregnancy resulted from a rape that has been reported to law enforcement. The law does not allow for an exception for incest.
If the law goes into effect, it would force the clinic located in Jackson's Fondren neighborhood to close.
Since Mississippi's Republican leaders have vigorously celebrated Supreme Court's decision to allow state's to regulate abortion policy, the pending state chancery court's decision is all but certain to end up in the hands of the Mississippi Supreme Court to re-examine the issue.
While technically nonpartisan, a majority of the justices who sit on the state's highest court have a conservative judicial philosophy and have a recent record of overturning previous rulings from the court.
For example, decades of state court precedence have limited a Mississippi governor's ability to issue line-item vetoes on legislative spending bills. But in 2020, the state Supreme Court decided to overturn the previous precedents, concluding that governors have wide discretion over the partial vetoes and determining individual legislators no longer had a right to sue the governor over the issue.
State officials have not yet responded to the Jackson clinic's complaint, and it is unclear when Hinds County chancellors will issue a ruling on the case.
