This bill of the day, authored by Representative Robert Foster, who is also a candidate for Governor, would require a physician to listen for a heartbeat before the induction of an abortion.
HB 529 defines a fetal heartbeat as the repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac. If a heartbeat is found, no abortion could be performed.
The bill reads:
A physician who (a) knowingly performs or induces or attempts to perform or induce an abortion without first determining, or possessing a determination by another physician on whose determination that physician relies, if the unborn human individual that the pregnant woman is carrying has a detectable fetal heartbeat, in violation of Section 41-41-135;
It is common to see an abortion bill nearly every legislative session in Mississippi. Last year, lawmakers passed a bill to prevent an abortion after 15 weeks, making the state the most restrictive in the nation. However, the decision was overturned through the court system months later.
The bill was referred to the Judiciary A Committee.
Sarah Ulmer
