Mississippi Won’t Appeal Ruling on Abortion

Mississippi is dropping its court fight to toughen its abortion regulations, already considered among the nation’s most restrictive.

Atty. Gen. Mike Moore said Monday that the state stands little chance of reversing a federal judge’s ruling against the restrictions, which include a ban on abortion clinics within 1,500 feet of a church or school.

U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. ruled on Sept. 27 that the regulations, enacted by the state Legislature in March, impose an unconstitutional burden on people seeking and providing abortions.

“The judge made some very valid points. The law was pretty restrictive,” Moore said. “We’re going to fix the regulations rather than fight the court battles.”

Mississippi in the past has fought for abortion laws all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld a 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that pregnant teenagers get the consent of both parents.

Abortion opponent Roy McMillan said the fault lies with the federal government. “State government should simply close down and send the keys to state office buildings to Washington,” McMillan said.

Rob McDuff, a lawyer who had challenged the restrictions, said it was wise of Moore not to waste taxpayers’ money.

“Some of the regulations were pretty ridiculous,” said McDuff, who represented two doctors who performed abortions, the American Civil Liberties Union and an abortion-rights organization.

Barbour did uphold parts of the Louisiana law. Doctors who perform 100 or more abortions a year must license their practices as abortion clinics and hire a registered nurse. But the judge struck down the ban on clinics near churches and schools. He also objected to rules requiring at least five restrooms inside abortion clinics, alarm and emergency power systems, separate locker rooms for nurses and doctors and a formal agreement with a hospital to take emergency patients.