Mississippi’s governor: Full speed ahead with new abortion restrictions

“We have to prove that being pro-life is not simply about being anti-abortion, and, in our state, we are enacting policies to do exactly that,” Reeves instructed host Mike Emanuel, with out specifying what insurance policies he meant or how they might be applied.

Mississippi is going through a contemporary problem from the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is arguing {that a} prior Mississippi Supreme Court ruling had mentioned that the correct to have an abortion was discovered within the state’s Constitution.

“Unless there is an injunction which forces us not to enforce it, then, of course, we’re going to enforce the law,” Reeves mentioned. He mentioned he expects Mississippi’s legislation to be upheld throughout the state.

The state is just not alone on this regard; so-called set off legal guidelines, all with completely different restrictions and provisions, that kicked in (or will kick in) across the nation have been challenged on varied authorized grounds.

Emanuel peppered Reeves with a collection of questions based mostly on eventualities which have emerged because the Dobbs ruling, a few of them regarding the capacity of individuals to go to different states to acquire abortions and a few regarding medicines that may be despatched via the mail or in any other case obtained from exterior the state.

“In our state,” Reeves mentioned, “the enforcement is done by the state board of medical licensure. We have a state board of medical licensure which actually oversees the practice of medicine in our state, and they ensure that any physician that is practicing, whether it’s through telemedicine or otherwise, that any physician that practices in our state is practicing not only based upon the standards of care that we require in our state, but also based upon state law.”

Emanuel additionally requested the governor in regards to the state probably utilizing surveillance of e-mail and cellphones to ensure Mississippi residents weren’t acquiring abortions, one thing that was clearly not a difficulty earlier than the Roe v. Wade ruling.

“I have no reason to believe that there will be any surveillance of mail or phones,” Reeves mentioned.

In response to a different query, Reeves recommended that discussions about exceptions for rape inside state legal guidelines had been mainly a distraction, since only a few abortions had been obtained due to rape and incest. Mississippi’s legislation permits for exceptions for rape or incest, although some lawmakers are searching for to get rid of these provisions.

“If the far-left really believe what they want you to believe,” he mentioned, “if they really believe that the American people were with them and were for abortion on demand, then they wouldn’t be talking about all of these exceptions and minor numbers.”

The Mississippi legislation additionally permits exceptions to avoid wasting the lifetime of the mom, although it may be robust to know precisely when that aspect would possibly come into play — and whether or not physicians might face repercussions for making that willpower.

“There’s always the potential for confusion,” Reeves mentioned, “but when you think about the exception for the life of the mother, in essence you have a true medical decision that has to be made by the physician because you have two lives at stake.”