It was previously featured as Y’all Politics #billoftheday, and now HB 1510 has been taken up on the House Floor, causing quite a debate. It would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks (in most cases).
The bill was authored by Rep. Becky Currie from Lincoln. She and Chairman of the Committee Rep. Andy Gipson claim that the bill was created to safeguard healthcare for women and children but were shortly questioned by other members of the House on it’s reasoning and whether or not it is constitutional.
“I just don’t think that men who can go get a vasectomy can tell women what to do with their bodies,” said Rep. John Hines. From his initial statements a vigorous debate ensued between Gipson and Currie and those in opposition of the bill.
Rep. Wooten questioned whether or not this bill was really about women and children’s healthcare. She then implied it was simply based on abortion principals. Principals, she believes should be left decided on in an individual’s own home.
The debate treaded into deeper waters when Currie expressed her personal belief that children are a gift from God and even if they aren’t wanted initially, that a family somewhere would want them. Wooten fired back, reminding Currie that over 6,000 children are still in the care of CPS because they can’t find homes to be placed in. Rep. Sonya-Williams Barnes backed Wooten up by questioning why a bill to prevent abortions would be passed, but the House can’t pass bills to ensure children have what they need to thrive.
Currie argued for the precedence for the bill, citing the U.S. Supreme Court case, Gonzales vs. Carhart which created the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The act was argued to apply to more common abortion procedures like “D&E.” This passage proved that viability isn’t the legal standard for deciding when a state can ban abortion. She and Rep. Gipson argued that it is of great importance to the state of Mississippi to protect the lives of unborn children
Cherish Life, a pro-life campaign released a fact sheet on why they think the bill is in the best interest of women, children, and Mississippi as a whole.
Ultimately the bill passed the House Floor, 79-30.
Rep. Gipson and Rep. Wooten agreed to give their viewpoints on the bill and whether or not the state should create legislation to decide when abortions can and cannot be done. You can watch that full video below:
Sarah Ulmer
