Block on fetal heartbeat abortion bill

A federal circuit court of appeals upheld a ban on Mississippi’s 2019 abortion law Thursday.

That law forbids abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

The three judge panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the Mississippi law unconstitutionally prohibited pre-viability abortions.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion for fetuses that are not considered viable. Viability generally occurs at about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

A district court initially blocked Mississippi’s law in May.  It is one of several states that passed highly restrictive abortion bans, known as ‘heartbeat bills,’ last year.