JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Jackson Woman’s Health Organization (JWHO), which is the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, filed a new lawsuit on Monday, June 27. They asked the Hinds County Chancery Court to prevent the State of Mississippi from enforcing its trigger ban, which would prohibit nearly all abortions in Mississippi.
The trigger ban is set to take effect in 10 days, following a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. The lawsuit also asks the court to ensure Mississippi’s six-week ban, which would prohibit most abortions in the state, is not enforced.
The plaintiffs argued that Mississippians have a separate right to abortion under the Mississippi Constitution. In a 1998 decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court, known as Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, the court held that “[n]o right is held more sacred . . . than the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person,” “no aspect[] of life is more personal and private than those have to do with one’s own reproductive system,” and “the state constitutional right to privacy includes an implied right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.”
Because that 1998 decision remains good law, the lawsuit argues that it requires the state to refrain from enforcing the bans and closing JWHO’s clinic.
The lawsuit was filed on JWHO’s behalf by the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ), the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
