In Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs, (MS Ch., July 5, 2022), an abortion provider on behalf of itself and its patients sought a preliminary injunction to prohibit enforcement of two Mississippi abortion bans-- a 2007 Trigger Ban statute (triggered by the overruling of Roe v. Wade) and a 2019 six-week Fetal Heartbeat ban. Plaintiffs, relying on Pro-Choice Mississippi v Fordice, a 1998 Mississippi Supreme Court decision, argued that the Mississippi Constitution protects the right to an abortion. The Chancery Court, however, denied a preliminary injunction, concluding that the Mississippi Supreme Court will no longer affirm its holding in Fordice, saying in part:
The Fordice court compared Section 32 of the Mississippi Constitution to the Ninth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Neither Constitutional provision made specific reference to any protection for abortion. The Court largely rested its finding of a state protected right to abortion to that federal constitutional right found by the Roe Court to flow from the Ninth Amendment.
Mississippi Free Press reports on the decision. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
