By William Perkins
Editor
A Mississippi judge sitting in Jackson denied a preliminary injunction June 5 that was requested by the state’s sole remaining abortion clinic to forestall the “trigger law” meant to make abortions illegal after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 overturned its 1973 decision that legalized abortions nationwide.
The eight-page ruling by Fourth District Chancery Judge Debbra K. Halford of Liberty, who heard the case after all four Hinds Chancery Court judges recused themselves, was handed down just hours after a 45-minute hearing on Tuesday morning.
She ruled that the Mississippi Supreme Court was the appropriate venue to argue the Jackson Women’s Health Organization position that a 1998 state Supreme Court case, Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, found a right to privacy in the Mississippi Constitution that includes abortion.
“SinceRoe andCasey are no longer the law of the land, reliance upon Fordice will almost certainly not be well-founded when pursuing this case in the Supreme Court. It is more than doubtful that the Mississippi Supreme Court will continue to uphold Fordice,” according to Halford’s ruling.
Roe v. Wade is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case legalizing abortion nationwide that was overturned on June 24. Planned Parenthood v. Casey is a 1992 companion case to Roe. Kirk Fordice was governor of Mississippi at the time of the 1998 state Supreme Court case.
With the Halford ruling, Jackson Women’s Health Organization located on North State Street in Jackson will be forced to close down on July 7. There has been no announcement on whether the clinic will appeal Halford’s decision.
