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Mon Nov 28, 2022, 09:46 AM Nov 2022

Is abortion legal in Mississippi? Voters could decide

Sun Herald via Yahoo News

Since the United States Supreme Court in a Mississippi case stripped away a national right to an abortion, citizens in six states, including five earlier this month, have voted to either preserve or expand abortion rights.

In no state have voters opted to restrict or to take away abortion rights since the Mississippi case – Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – was decided in late June by the nation’s highest court.

But the Mississippi Supreme Court – in Pro Choice Mississippi v. Fordice – ruled in 1998 that the state constitution provides a right to an abortion.

“We find that the state constitutional right to privacy includes an implied right to choose whether or not to have an abortion,” the late Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Michael Sullivan wrote for the majority.

That ruling has never been overturned.

Recognizing the state’s conundrum, the conservative Mississippi Justice Institute, which is the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, recently filed a lawsuit, hoping to get the state Supreme Court to overturn its 1998 ruling.

The Mississippi Legislature could settle this complex issue easily by voting early in the 2023 session to place on the ballot as soon as possible a proposal to reverse the state Supreme Court decision granting the right to an abortion.
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