Mississippi House Passes Heartbeat Ban
Don't worry, rape victims! You can still get an abortion if you prove you were assaulted!
An Ohio law that would ban abortion as soon as an embryonic heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks in some cases, has been on hold for months while the senate decides whether or not to vote. In the meantime, the state of Mississippi has put together a heartbeat ban of its own. And it has already passed the House.
Via the Sun Herald:
Diane Derzis, president of the state’s sole abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, said the bill was an attempt to erode the nationwide right to abortion established by the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
“This is clearly a direct challenge to Roe,” Derzis said. “The amazing thing to me is we don’t have people marching on the capitol.”
Derzis said that her clinic does not perform abortion procedures before the pregnancy can be visually detected, which she said occurs at three to four weeks. Therefore a woman would have only a one- to three-week window to elect the procedure under the bill.
The bill as written is kind enough to allow an exception in the case of rape or incest. But, bill supporters say, the woman or girl must first prove she was a victim of sexual assault or she can’t have the procedure done.