JACKSON, Miss. (Special) – The Jackson Women’s Health Organization filed a lawsuit June 27 in Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson to halt the enforcement of Mississippi’s “trigger law” that will close the last abortion clinic in the state, while a civil district judge in Louisiana issued a temporary restraining order on the same day against the trigger law in that state that would have affected the last three abortion clinics there.
The trigger laws went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court announced June 24 that Roe v. Wade, the Court’s 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, had been overturned in a Mississippi case on appeal to the Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Under Mississippi’s legislatively-approved trigger law, the attorney general was required to publish a determination that the Court had overruled Roe v. Wade, and that it is reasonably probable Mississippi’s trigger law would be upheld as constitutional.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who argued the state’s case before the Court on Dec. 6 of last year, certified the trigger law on June 27.
Lawsuits against trigger laws in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee have also been filed, and court challenges in other trigger law states are expected. According to LifeNews.com, states that have taken action or are expected to do so in addition to Mississippi include:
— Alabama. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Arkansas. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Kentucky. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Louisiana. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Missouri. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Ohio. Unborn children protected as soon as heartbeat detected.
— Oklahoma. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— South Dakota. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Texas. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Utah. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— West Virginia. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Wisconsin. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— Georgia. Unborn children protected as soon as heartbeat detected.
— Idaho. Unborn children to be protected throughout pregnancy.
— North Dakota. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
— South Carolina. Unborn children protected when heartbeat detected. (State will file motion to lift injunction.)
— Tennessee. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy. (State will file motion to lift injunction.)
— Wyoming. Unborn children protected throughout pregnancy.
Diane Derzis, owner of the Mississippi abortion clinic on North State Street in Jackson, has previously said she will move the clinic to New Mexico, one of the states expected to continue abortions, if the Mississippi clinic is forced to close.
Derzis also said after the Court’s decision on June 24 that the Jackson clinic will continue to provide abortions during the 10-day period before the certification takes effect.