AP News, February 8th, 2007
The Mississippi Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would ban most abortions and charge those who perform the procedures with a misdemeanor.
The bill would prohibit abortions except in cases of rape, incest or if the woman's life were endangered. Anyone found guilty of providing an abortion would face misdemeanor charges, a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
Mississippi joins a handful of other states, including South Dakota and Utah, in considering abortion bans or restrictions this year in their statehouses.
The measure now goes to the Mississippi House. Last year, the House passed a similar bill that died when the two chambers could not agree on final wording.
"What this bill does is regulate these folks that are making money off these young women," said state Sen. Alan Nunnelee, a Republican and chairman of the Public Health Committee. "It says it will be a criminal act in this state for them to perform this procedure unless it's to save the life of this young woman or in cases of rape or incest."
The state Senate also approved another bill requiring doctors to offer women who are considering an abortion the option of listening to the fetal or embryonic heartbeat.
Abortion-rights activists vowed to fight the bills.
"This makes a religious statement about what women's bodies are for," said Tom Head, secretary of the Mississippi chapter of the National Organization for Women. "It makes the statement that a woman's body is, for lack of a better term, an incubator."
