Originally published: . Volume 9, No. 7. Source pages: 5, 6.
Senator John Milkovich’s SB 181 will make it unlawful for a physician to perform an abortion after 15 weeks gestational age.
According to the text, the new law will become effective upon final decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upholding the Act that originated as House Bill 1510 of the 2018 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature, which decision would thereby provide the authority for a state within the jurisdiction of that court of appeals to restrict abortion past 15 weeks of gestational age.
New law provides that certain provisions are repealed in favor of the provisions of R.S. 40:1061 (health provisions: abortion), immediately upon and to the extent that the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the authority of states to prohibit elective abortions on demand or by the adoption of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would restore the state's authority to prohibit elective abortions.
The new law retains prior law stating that it is not unlawful for a physician to perform an abortion if physician terminates the pregnancy in order to preserve the life or health of the unborn
child or to remove a stillborn child, or for the express purpose of saving the life, preventing the permanent impairment of a life sustaining organ or organs, or to prevent a substantial risk of death of the mother.
Act 498, authored by Representative Frank Hoffman, revised present law for the prohibition on using public funding for abortion providers shall apply to state funds, federal funds, and any other public funds administered by the La. Department of Health (LDH) through a Medicaid provider agreement. The new law revises present law to prohibit LDH from entering into a Medicaid provider agreement with any healthcare provider, entity, or organization that performs abortions in this state.
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