Jackson Women’s Health, which was the state’s only abortion clinic before it was forced to close Thursday, is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to allow it to reopen next week.
The request was based on the state Supreme Court’s 1998 ruling that the Mississippi Constitution gave women the right to an abortion. That decision has not been overturned and supersedes laws passed by the Legislature banning abortions in most cases, the abortion clinic’s attorneys said.
The petition, filed Thursday in Superior Court, follows Tuesday’s ruling by Franklin County Circuit Judge Debra Halford denying a request for a temporary restraining order allowing the clinic to remain open.
Supreme Court filings noted that Halford opened Tuesday’s hearing with a prayer from a specially appointed priest: “Lord, we pray for the presence of your Holy Spirit in this courtroom today … We seek your truth, not our own.” We seek your wisdom, not our own. Bless and inspire Judge Halford in her deliberations and decisions here today.”
Abortion rights supporters are asking the court to halt two laws. Mississippi has a trigger law that went into effect based on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in late June overturning Roe v. Wade, which recognized abortion rights in the U.S. Constitution.
Another law in Mississippi, banning abortions after six weeks, also went into effect as a result of Roe’s overturning.
“We hope the Mississippi Supreme Court will follow its previous ruling that the Mississippi Constitution protects women’s rights to make their own decisions about childbearing.” But unfortunately, we live in a time when established legal norms are rejected. We hope that doesn’t happen here,” said Jackson’s attorney Rob McDuff of the Mississippi Justice Center, which is representing the clinic. The Center for Reproductive Rights also represents the clinic.
McDuff argued to Halford that those laws would be challenged by a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that found abortion rights protected under Mississippi’s constitution. Only the state Supreme Court can overturn that opinion, just as only the U.S. Supreme Court can overturn Roe, McDuff told Halford on Tuesday.
Halford rejected McDuff’s argument, declining to issue the temporary restraining order because, she said, the state Supreme Court was likely to overturn the 1998 decision.
In the Supreme Court filing, the clinic said Halford had “abused her discretion” by basing her decision on what she believed the Supreme Court would do.
“This line of argument flies in the face of the rule of law and this court’s authority to have the final say on the meaning of the Mississippi Constitution,” the filing said.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office opposed the stay of the triggering law and the six-week ban. Fitch also filed the case — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Fitch’s office argued to Halford that the 1998 ruling by the state’s highest court was based on the fact that Roe was national law. Now that Roe has been overturned, the state Supreme Court’s 1998 decision is no longer good law. But McDuff pointed out that nowhere in the 1998 decision was that connection made.
The current law prohibits all abortions except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk or in cases of rape reported by law enforcement. The other law prohibits abortions after six weeks, except in cases of medical emergency.
“We are simply asking the SC Supreme Court to uphold its own decision. It would be a mistake to overturn decades of precedent and allow government and politics to ignore a woman’s right to make health care decisions that directly affect her life,” said Vangela Wade, CEO of the Mississippi Justice Center.
Vangela Wade is on the board of Mississippi Today.
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