The ‘heartbeat bill’ took another step forward at the Capitol.
A bill to prohibit an abortion in Mississippi as soon as a fetus has a detectable heartbeat passed through the Senate earlier in the legislative session, and now, it has been sent to the House floor after it passed through the House Public Health & Human Services Committee yesterday.
A heartbeat can typically be detected six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, according to the American Pregnancy Association.
The House also passed their own version of the bill earlier in the session, but it has not yet passed out a Senate committee.
If enacted into the law, it would become one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, and Governor Bryant has stated that he would sign the bill.
I’ve often said I want Mississippi to be the safest place for an unborn child in America. I appreciate the leadership of the MS House and Senate, along with members of the Legislature, for passing the fetal heartbeat bills today. I look forward to signing this act upon passage.
— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) February 13, 2019
A 15-week abortion ban was passed and signed last year, but the law was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge in a decision that the state is appealing.
House members won’t be discussing the bill this week as they are in recess until Monday at 4 p.m.
