{"id":1534399,"date":"2022-07-01T08:04:55","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T12:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1534399"},"modified":"2022-07-01T08:05:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T12:05:27","slug":"how-mississippi-became-the-state-to-take-down-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-mississippi-became-the-state-to-take-down-roe-v-wade\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mississippi Became The State To Take Down Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-mississippi-became-the-state-to-take-down-roe-v-wade%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1534399&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Supreme Court released its opinion last week in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em>, overturning <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> and ending nearly 50 years of federal governance over abortion policy. It was a historic moment, with <em>Roe<\/em> now joining <em>Plessy v. Ferguson<\/em> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/constitutioncenter.org\/interactive-constitution\/blog\/a-short-list-of-overturned-supreme-court-landmark-decisions\">list of momentous u-turns<\/a> in Supreme Court case law.<\/p>\n<p>While the decision itself has drawn most of the media attention, another story deserves to be told: How did it happen? How did five decades of battling over one case finally come to an end? To answer that question requires looking to the source of that case, a small Southern state that defied the odds in an epic \u201cDavid versus Goliath\u201d legal battle.<\/p>\n<p>With little fanfare or attention, Mississippi, the little state that could, showed the rest of the nation what can be done when just a few people believe passionately in their cause and are willing to labor to plant seeds years before harvesting.<\/p>\n<p>Even as former President Donald Trump released a statement on the day of the decision noting that it was \u201conly made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,\u201d others at the state level were smiling broadly too. Their Herculean efforts went with little notice but paid off \u2014 big time.<\/p>\n<h2>Seizing the Opportunity<\/h2>\n<p>After decades of frustrating battles against an intractable Supreme Court, many legislatures had grown weary of spending time on pro-life legislation, but with the election of President Trump, pro-life advocates in Mississippi saw an opportunity to get a statement win. Jameson Taylor, then acting president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, decided to seize the moment and found early support with Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn, then-state House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Andy Gipson, and bill sponsor Rep. Becky Currie.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor observed that Mississippi had passed a <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/75569\/mississippi-abortion-ban-20-weeks\/\">20-week abortion ban<\/a> in 2014 and a <a href=\"https:\/\/rewirenewsgroup.com\/legislative-tracker\/law\/mississippi-unborn-child-protection-dismemberment-abortion-hb-519\/\">ban on dismemberment abortions<\/a> in 2016. Neither had been challenged in court. Diane Deriz, the owner of Mississippi\u2019s only abortion clinic (Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization) had <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/75569\/mississippi-abortion-ban-20-weeks\/\">called<\/a> the 20-week ban \u201ca totally irrelevant piece of legislation that I\u2019m sure was aimed at the clinic. The clinic goes to 16 weeks, so what difference does that bill make?\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, the question arose: \u201cWhat would be a good next step?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image0-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-274778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image0-1.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image0-1-300x189.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image0-1-768x484-1.jpeg 768w\" \/><\/p>\n<p><figcaption class=\"col-12 col-md-6 body-xs px-15 pe-md-0 ps-md-30 py-15 m-0 text-center\">Image courtesy Bob Anderson.<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Identifying a Possible Opening \u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>As the 2018 legislative session rolled around, the Supreme Court\u2019s balance had not changed, with President Trump simply replacing Justice Antonin Scalia with Justice Neil Gorsuch. It was still a \u201cKennedy court,\u201d defined by his determinant vote in the middle. Could Mississippi push that court to reconsider the vague \u201cviability\u201d rule that had been created in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Planned_Parenthood_v._Casey\">Planned Parenthood<\/a> v. Casey<\/em> (1992)? Would it survive the new \u201cundue burden\u201d standard the court had established to limit states\u2019 regulation of abortion?<\/p>\n<p>Taylor noted that Kennedy had written the decision in Gonzales v. Carhart (2007), which upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Did Kennedy\u2019s support in that case indicate a possible opening to push the viability standard?<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Taylor decided it was time for Mississippi to \u201cmake a statement to set a new bar for what pro-life policy could look like in red states.\u201d Even so, he concedes \u201cthe goal was not to try to completely overturn abortion, but to weaken the <em>Roe\/Casey<\/em> framework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a first step, he reached out to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonfreepress.com\/news\/2018\/mar\/14\/reversing-roe-using-mississippi-bait-end-abortion\/\">Denise Burke<\/a> and Kellie Fiedorek, expert attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). Burke suggested model language that could build upon Mississippi\u2019s 20-week abortion ban, which was still in place.<\/p>\n<p>Research by ADF and others showed the United States had some of the most permissive abortion policies in the world \u2014 aligned most closely with nations such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam. Ultimately, they focused on a plan to try to limit abortion to the first three months, which would still allow a woman ample time to decide but also test the \u201cundue burden\u201d and \u201cviability\u201d standards established in <em>Casey<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>Poking the Court with a 15-Week Limit<\/h2>\n<p>As the bill took shape in the House, Currie emerged as the sponsor for what would become the 15-week ban bill, formally called \u201cThe Gestational Age Act\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/MS\/text\/HB1510\/id\/1692666\">H.B. 1510 \u2013 2018<\/a>). Currie, a licensed nurse, presented a strong defense of the bill to colleagues, recalling her experience holding a 15-week-gestation infant. <\/p>\n<p>The bill itself amplified the medical evidence of life, noting that \u201cat twelve (12) weeks\u2019 gestation, an unborn human being can open and close his or her fingers, starts to make sucking motions, and senses stimulation from the world outside the womb.\u201d Still, the bill limited abortion only after 15 weeks. It was, however, narrow enough to poke at the court and see what might happen.<\/p>\n<p>The bill documented the state\u2019s \u201clegitimate interests from the outset of pregnancy in protecting the health of women\u201d and \u201cin protecting the life of the unborn,\u201d citing <em>Casey<\/em> as support.<\/p>\n<p>With support from Gunn, the House passed the bill (79-31), but it faced outside opposition in the Senate over criminal penalties against doctors. With an amendment to pivot to limited civil penalties, it was passed with support from Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and sent to Gov. Phil Bryant. He signed it on March 19, 2018, putting into effect what was roundly called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2018\/03\/06\/mississippi-lawmakers-pass-nations-most-restrictive-abortion-ban\/\">the most restrictive abortion law in the nation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"647\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sign-1024x647-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-274909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sign-1024x647-1.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/sign-300x189.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sign-768x485-1.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sign-1536x970-1.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sign.jpeg 1824w\" \/><\/p>\n<p><figcaption class=\"col-12 col-md-6 body-xs px-15 pe-md-0 ps-md-30 py-15 m-0 text-center\">Image courtesy Jameson Taylor<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Lawyering Up<\/h2>\n<p>Within hours, the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, and the next day U.S. District <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/judge-tosses-15-week-abortion-ban-in-ruling-filled-with-pro-abortion-talkin\/\">Judge Carlton Reeves issued a temporary restraining order<\/a> against enforcing the law. <\/p>\n<p>Bryant was undeterred, saying a\u00a0law \u201csaving more of the unborn than any state in America\u201d was \u201cworth fighting over\u201d in court. Gunn agreed the state was \u201cabsolutely\u201d ready to take on the costs of a legal battle, because \u201cI don\u2019t know if you can put any value on human life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even so, Reeves handed the state a stinging defeat, ruling in November that it \u201cunequivocally\u201d violated not only Supreme Court precedent but also the 14th Amendment. He <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/mississippi-15-week-abortion-ban-051307090.html\">wrote<\/a> that viability must be determined by trained medical professionals, and the \u201cestablished medical consensus\u201d is that viability typically begins at 23 to 24 weeks after the pregnant woman\u2019s last menstrual period \u2013 a rebuff of Mississippi\u2019s attempt to regulate at 15 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi appealed to the Fifth Circuit, but the court ruled against it in December 2019. The opinion <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wireStory\/appeals-court-barring-mississippi-15-week-abortion-ban-67724089\">said<\/a>, \u201cIn an unbroken line dating to <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the Supreme Court\u2019s abortion cases have established (and affirmed, and re-affirmed) a woman\u2019s right to choose an abortion before viability,\u201d and \u201cstates may regulate abortion procedures prior to viability so long as they do not impose an undue burden on the woman\u2019s right, but they may not ban abortions.\u201d It was yet another setback.<\/p>\n<h2>Supreme Court\u2019s Balance Swings<\/h2>\n<p>Along the way, though, a fortuitous turn of events had occurred. The Supreme Court balance had suddenly changed in late 2018 with President Trump\u2019s replacement of Kennedy with Justice Brett Kavanaugh. <\/p>\n<p>Then, just prior to leaving office in 2020, the balance swung further as Amy Coney Barrett was quickly confirmed to fill the seat that had been held by the deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a blink, the law that had been designed to survive a \u201cKennedy court\u201d was now headed into a completely different court, one that leaned conservative by a six-to-three margin.<\/p>\n<p>In another fortunate turn, the law got a boost from within the state in 2019 when pro-life <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lynn_Fitch\">Republican Lynn Fitch<\/a> took over as attorney general from Democrat Jim Hood, who had given the bill a lackluster defense. Fitch, a working mother, took a strong position in defending the law, calling <em>Roe <\/em>\u201cegregiously wrong\u201d and promoting the slogan \u201cEmpower Women, Promote Life.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>She authored numerous articles in the press defending Mississippi\u2019s law, such as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/mississipis-people-should-choose-its-abortion-laws-11623709643\">Mississippi\u2019s People Should Choose Its Abortion Laws<\/a>.\u201d Finally, the law had a solid defense team on its side.<\/p>\n<h2>Decision Time<\/h2>\n<p>On Dec. 1, 2021, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/live-updates\/supreme-court-mississippi-abortion-case-oral-arguments-2021-12-01\/\">Supreme Court heard<\/a> two hours of arguments in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em>, the case to determine the fate of almost 50 years of abortion case law. Justice Kavanaugh asked, \u201cWhy should this court be the arbiter rather than Congress, the state legislatures, state supreme courts, the people being able to resolve this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito questioned the viability standard, with Roberts commenting that, \u201cViability it seems to me doesn\u2019t have anything to do with choice. But if it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Justice Sonia Sotomayor, supported by Justice Elena Kagan, argued for the existing viability standard and admonished her colleagues, asking, \u201cWill this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception, that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don\u2019t see how it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The full weight of the federal government stood against the state of Mississippi that day, with President Biden\u2019s Department of Justice arguing on behalf of the abortion provider that the upholding of Mississippi\u2019s law would represent \u201can unprecedented contraction of individual rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The drama finally ended when the court released its verdict last week, and by a 6-3 decision both <em>Roe<\/em> and <em>Casey <\/em>were overturned. Justice Alito <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/health\/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization-overturn-roe-abortion\/\">wrote<\/a> for the majority that \u201cIt is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people\u2019s elected representatives.\u201d The strategy envisioned five years earlier by pro-life advocates in Mississippi had played out better than ever imagined \u2014 with some divine twists along the way.<\/p>\n<p>When the news broke on that Friday morning, Taylor simply commented, \u201cAmazing. Praise God!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>History will record that Mississippi, the small and often overlooked state, led the way in protecting the lives of unborn children. And Behind it all was the little army of pro-life warriors who simply did what they could and never lost hope. Local action does indeed have national impact.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Bob Anderson is a partner and CFO of a hotel development company and a former aerospace engineer who worked on the International Space Station and interned in Reagan\u2019s Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) at the Pentagon. He is also a licensed commercial pilot. He&#8217;s @bobandersonpolitics on Telegram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court released its opinion last week in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and ending nearly 50 years of federal governance over abortion policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":609,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/609"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1534399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1534399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1534399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1534399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}