Mississippi judge declines to block abortion 'trigger ban' from going into effect
Jul. 5—JACKSON — A judge on Tuesday denied a request from Mississippi's only abortion clinic to block the state's "trigger ban" on abortions from going into effect, clearing the way for nearly all abortions to become illegal in the state.
The rationale behind the request stemmed from a 1998 Mississippi Supreme Court opinion, Pro Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, that ruled the Mississippi Constitution contains a right to privacy that "includes an implied right to choose whether or not to have an abortion."
Chancellor Debbra Halford in her denial wrote that the previous justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court relied heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court's opinions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed that a person had a constitutional right to obtain an abortion.
Since the nation's highest court recently overturned those recent opinions and ruled a person no longer has a constitutional right to an abortion, Halford wrote that "it is more than doubtful that the Mississippi Supreme Court will continue to uphold Fordice."
"Since Roe and Casey are no longer the law of the land, reliance upon Fordice will almost certainly not be well founded when pursuing this case at the (Mississippi) Supreme Court," Halford wrote.
Rob McDuff, the attorney representing the Jackson clinic, told members of the media that he would review the decision and consider his options for further legal action.
A representative of the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, which defended the trigger ban, declined to comment on the order because the full case is still pending.
Halford's order comes only hours after attorneys appeared before her in Hinds County Chancery Court on Tuesday morning to argue about the request to pause the abortion law from taking effect.
McDuff asserted that the 1998 opinion was legally binding. But attorneys representing the state believed the Fordice opinion became invalid once the U.S. Supreme Court last month issued its Dobbs opinion eliminating the legal right to an abortion.
"There is no Roe or Casey anymore," Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart said. "And as a result, there is no Fordice."
Halford agreed with Stewart's arguments, and now that she's declined to freeze the trigger ban, almost no abortions will be conducted in the Magnolia State when the law goes into effect Thursday.
A law passed in 2007 bans physicians from conducting abortions unless 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.
Halford's decision will essentially force the clinic located in Jackson's Fondren neighborhood to cease operations.
The clinic's leaders have said that even if the facility closes, its mission won't end. After Thursday, they will try to find transportation and money for Mississippians to seek an abortion in other parts of the country.
