Abortion

State Of Mississippi: We’re Not Closing It Down “Immediately”

As the fight over Mississippi's only remaining clinic continues, many are wondering how soon the state could be abortion-free.

Dr. Mary Currier. [img src]

Without a court order blocking it, Mississippi’s TRAP law H.B. 1390 will go into effect in just a few days. On Sunday, July 1st, Jackson Women’s Health Organization will be forced to comply with the new regulation requiring all who provide safe abortion care to be board-certified OB-GYNs with admitting privileges at a local hospital, and the following day they will be inspected to see if they are in compliance.

But that doesn’t mean that the clinic will shut down immediately, argues the state, who is defending their law and requesting the courts not issue a temporary restraining order to keep the law from going into effect.

Via the San Francisco Gate:

Assistant attorneys general responded Thursday on behalf of the state health officer, Dr. Mary Currier. They said the judge should deny the restraining order because under another state law, “the Department of Health cannot revoke their license or shut them down within the next 10 days.”

The state attorneys said if a health facility is found not complying with a law, it has at least 30 days for an administrative hearing. If a license is revoked at the hearing, the facility would get 30 days to appeal that decision.

“Thus, the immediate concern that the clinic may be closed on July 1 is ill-founded,” the state attorneys wrote.

The letter does show that Sam Mims, House Public Health Committee Chairman, has at least given up on his legal quest to shut the clinic down immediately, trying to bypass the state’s 10-day waiting period. Mims earlier said he was seeking a way to deny the clinic a grace period, saying he didn’t “want to give the facility 10 extra days to perform abortions.”