FRANKFORT, Ky. — Both Kentucky and Indiana's attorneys general have joined a multi-state coalition in filing an amicus brief in support of Mississippi's 15-week abortion law.
A federal appeals court called the ban on abortions at 15 weeks unconstitutional in December, ruling a U.S. district judge was correct in blocking the law from taking effect in 2018.
Jackson Women's Health, the state's only abortion clinic, sued the state after the governor signed the law. Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he was supporting Mississippi's position that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly invalidated the law.
“The Fifth Circuit’s ruling conflicts with the Supreme Court’s standard for evaluating state abortion laws and denies the state of Mississippi the right to enforce the 15-week law passed by the state’s legislature,” Cameron said. “Invalidating Mississippi’s law endangers the ability of lawmakers to legislate effectively and risks making the Supreme Court the nation’s sole arbiter of the impact of medical advances on abortion laws.”
The brief argues the the court's decision contradicts previous rulings in June Medical v. Russo and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, saying the ruling also conflicts with Roe v. Wade, which recognized that state legislatures may respond to evolving medical information.
Attorneys General from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia also signed the brief.
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