Late last night the proposed Mississippi abortion ban was killed when the Republican Chair of the Senate’s Public Health and Welfare committee, Alan Nunnelee, refused to sign the House bill. The House chair, Democrat Steve Holland, called Nunnelee’s bluff by essentially agreeing to all provisions of the ban. Holland told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger “we brought them a ban on abortion.” Nunnelee said the bill was so complicated that it would require lawyers to review it. “It’s a very complex conference report, and I can’t make a judgement on that,” said Nunnelee. The end result is that the abortion ban is dead this legislative session in Mississippi.
“For the past two weeks the legislative galleries have been filled with abortion rights supporters. During this time we outnumbered the pro-lifers 4-1,” said Susan Hill, president of the National Women’s Health Organization, which runs the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. This outcome shows the right to life movement is quite divided in what to do about abortion bans. The National Right to Life Committee has indicated such bans are premature, and the White House appears not to want more bans in this election year.
