A federal appeals court in Jackson, Miss., said Friday it won’t reconsider its ruling that Mississippi's law banning most abortions after 15 weeks is unconstitutional.
The 2018 state law remains blocked and Mississippi's only abortion clinic remains open. The state is expected to the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.
Mississippi is also fighting a separate legal fight over a 2019 law that would ban most abortions at six weeks.
With the addition of conservative justices to the Supreme Court during the Trump administration, Mississippi is one of several states that've enacted abortion restrictions. Some laws are aimed at spurring court challenges seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
In the Mississippi case, the clinic sued Mississippi shortly after then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed the 15-week ban. The law has never taken effect because U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled it was unconstitutional.
On Dec. 13, a three-judge panel of the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Reeves had ruled correctly.
But on Dec. 27, Mississippi asked the entire appeals court to reconsider the case, and the full panel on Friday denied the request.
Bryant said in December he wants Mississippi to take the 15-week case to the nation’s high court. He left office when his second term expired Tuesday, but the new GOP Gov. Tate Reeves, who was lieutenant governor when the 15-week ban was passed, has said he supported it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.