Mississippi’s early abortion ban is blocked, for now

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a new Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation — the most restrictive abortion law in the United States.

The law took effect as soon as Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed it Monday. The only abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, quickly sued the state, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it bans abortion weeks before a fetus can survive outside the womb.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments Tuesday before granting the clinic’s immediate request for a temporary restraining order that would block the law during the legal fight.

“The Supreme Court says every woman has a constitutional right to ‘personal privacy’ regarding her body,” he wrote in a brief decision that quoted previous rulings on abortion. “That right protects her choice ‘to have an abortion before viability.’ ”

Reeves said in court that the “ultimate question” is whether a state can ban abortion before viability. He later granted the temporary restraining order, noting that lawyers for the clinic said a woman who is at least 15 weeks pregnant was scheduled to have an abortion Tuesday afternoon.

His order noted that the law “places viability at 15 weeks — about two months earlier than where the medical consensus places it.”

The law and responding challenge set up a confrontation sought by abortion opponents, who are hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable.

Some legal experts say a change in the law is unlikely unless the makeup of the Supreme Court changes.