Mississippi Bill Would Close Sole Abortion Clinic
Published at
Esme E. Deprez/Bloomberg/Getty Images(JACKSON, Miss.) — A controversial measure that would essentially shut down the only abortion clinic in Mississippi has passed both houses of the state legislature.
The bill does not target, but directly impacts the state’s only abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.
The bill, House Bill 1390, would require doctors working at abortion clinics to be OB-GYN certified and have admitting privileges to a local hospital.
All across the country a number of measures challenging what opponents call the right to choose have popped up. Just last month in Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed into law a bill which mandates women to undergo an ultrasound prior to getting an abortion.
Mississippi has aggressively targeted abortion since November’s election put Republicans in charge of both chambers of the House.
Anti-abortion advocates saw an opportunity to pass legislation like the “Heartbeat Bill,” that had long stalled.
The abortion restriction bill known as the “Heartbeat Bill” would have required doctors to look for a fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion and would have outlawed the procedure if a heartbeat could be detected.
While the bill passed the Mississippi House, it was pending in a Senate committee and was not brought up for a vote before a Tuesday deadline.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio