Jackson, Miss., Mar 5, 2020 / 18:01 pm
A bill has been introduced in the Mississippi legislature to prohibit abortions being performed because of race, sex, or genetic abnormality, citing anti-discrimination laws and a recent opinion of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
House Bill 1295, the Life Equality Act of 2020, passed through a House committee March 3 and will soon be proposed to the state's House of Representatives.
"It is the intent of the Mississippi Legislature … to prohibit the practice of nontherapeutic or elective abortion for the purpose of terminating the life of an unborn human being because of that human being's race, sex, or the presence or presumed presence of a genetic abnormality," the bill reads.
A physician who performs an abortion prohibited by the bill would be guilty of a felony, and face one to 10 years in prison, and would have their medical license supended or revoked. Women who procured such abortions would not face prosecution, and there would be an exception for medical emergencies.