In days, most abortions will be illegal in Mississippi. What to know about trigger law.

Mona Moore
·1 min read

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch certified a Mississippi law that will prohibit most abortions in the state.

The law was passed and approved by the governor as a trigger law ready to take effect should Roe v. Wade ever be overturned, which happened last week in a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The new law will take effect July 7, 10 days after Fitch’s signed certification.

Mississippi’s lone abortion clinic, known as the “Pink House” in the Fondren neighborhood in Jackson, will be providing abortions as long as legally possible.

Abortions are still possible in the state, but under very limited circumstances. Here’s what you need to know.

A posted sign indicating a “Medical Facility Quiet Zone” is displayed outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic, Mississippi’s only state licensed abortion facility, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, in Jackson, Miss. Mississippi’s capital city has repealed a year-old local law on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, that sought to restrict noise levels outside the state’s only abortion clinic by limiting amplified sound and banning protesters from approaching patients without their permission. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

When are abortions legal in Mississippi?

An abortion can be performed if one of the following apply:

  • Abortions necessary to save the mother’s life

  • Abortions caused by rape if a formal charge has been filed with law enforcement

  • Abortions for minors with parental consent

  • Abortions for minors with a court-ordered waive of parental consent if the minor is found to be mature and informed enough to make the abortion decision or if performance of the abortion would be in the best interests of the minor

  • Incest does not count as grounds for abortion in Mississippi.

What is the penalty for performing an abortion?

Any doctor who performs an illegal portion could face up to 10 years in prison.

What is required before a legal abortion in Mississippi?

Before the abortion, a provider must:

  • Perform an ultrasound and offer the patient the opportunity to see and hear the fetal heartbeat.

  • Provide a picture of the ultrasound.

  • Obtain a signature from the patient acknowledging she has been offered the ultrasound and picture and retain records of the signed certification.