A blanket ban on all non-lifesaving abortion procedures is headed to the floor of the Mississippi state house, and Governor Haley Barbour has already indicated that he will likely sign it into law should it pass.
Already a state with some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation (24-hour waiting period, and mandatory counseling, on top of the fact that there is only one abortion clinic in the state), the Mississippi state legislature has approved a bill in committee that would allow abortion only to save the pregnant woman's life--it would make no exception in cases of rape or incest.
"I suspect I'll sign it," said Governor Haley Barbour, when asked about the impending passage if the bill. "But I would certainly rather it come to my desk with an exception for rape and incest. I think that's consistent with the opinion of the vast majority of Mississippians and Americans." The Mississippi chapter of the ACLU has already threatened a lawsuit if the measure is passed, making it likely that the new law will eventually be overturned.
Terri Herring, president of Pro-Life Mississippi, said she hopes the state will outlaw abortion, but also that she is "not certain whether there's a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court willing to overturn Roe v. Wade," the highly controversial 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing the right to an abortion.
"We feel like we are still one justice short of being able to overturn Roe," Herring said.
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