Mississippi Legislature - 2018 Regular Session
HB 1510, Chapter 393
AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS THE GESTATIONAL AGE ACT; TO ENACT DEFINITIONS; TO PROHIBIT ABORTIONS AFTER 15 WEEKS' GESTATION; TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
(2) Legislative findings and purpose. The Legislature makes the following findings of fact and incorporates them herein by reference:
(a) The United States is one (1) of only seven (7) nations in the world that permits nontherapeutic or elective abortion-on-demand after the twentieth week of gestation. In fact, fully seventy-five percent (75%) of all nations do not permit abortion after twelve (12) weeks' gestation, except (in most instances) to save the life and to preserve the physical health of the mother.
(b) (i) Medical and other authorities now know more about human prenatal development than ever before including that:
1. Between five (5) and six (6) weeks' gestation, an unborn human being's heart begins beating.
2. An unborn human being begins to move about in the womb at approximately eight (8) weeks' gestation.
3. At nine (9) weeks' gestation, all basic physiological functions are present. Teeth and eyes are present, as well as external genitalia.
4. An unborn human being's vital organs begin to function at ten (10) weeks' gestation. Hair, fingernails, and toenails also begin to form.
5. At eleven (11) weeks' gestation, an unborn human being's diaphragm is developing, and he or she may even hiccup. He or she is beginning to move about freely in the womb.
6. At twelve (12) weeks' gestation, an unborn human being can open and close his or her fingers, starts to make sucking motions, and senses stimulation from the world outside the womb. Importantly, he or she has taken on "the human form" in all relevant aspects. Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007).
7. The Supreme Court has long recognized that the State of Mississippi has an "important and legitimate interest in protecting the potentiality of human life," Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 162 (1973), and specifically that "the state has an interest in protecting the life of the unborn." Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 873 (1992).
8. The majority of abortion procedures performed after fifteen (15) weeks' gestation are dilation and evacuation procedures which involve the use of surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn child apart before removing the pieces of the dead child from the womb. The Legislature finds that the intentional commitment of such acts for nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession.
9. Most obstetricians and gynecologists practicing in the State of Mississippi do not offer or perform nontherapeutic or elective abortions. Even fewer offer or perform the dilation and evacuation abortion procedure even though it is within their scope of practice.
(ii) Abortion carries significant physical and psychological risks to the maternal patient, and these physical and psychological risks increase with gestational age. Specifically, in abortions performed after eight (8) weeks' gestation, the...
