According to the latest data, nearly 10 babies per day have been aborted in Mississippi… until now.
Abortion will be illegal in Mississippi as of Thursday, July 7th, except in the case of a formal charge of rape or to preserve the life of the mother. This comes after a Judge denied the state’s lone abortion clinic’s request to halt the trigger law following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs decision.
READ MORE: Abortion clinic, Attorney General argue their case at hearing on Mississippi’s trigger law
Wednesday, that Jackson abortion clinic known as the “pink house” closed its doors.
What does that mean in terms of the lives that may be saved as a result of abortions no longer being allowed in Mississippi?
Until now, nearly 10 lives of babies per day were being aborted in Mississippi, this is according to the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH).
In 2021, MSDH reported that 3,559 abortions, or induced terminations, were performed during the 2020 calendar year. That is roughly 10.3% of the reported births that occurred during the same year.
Of that total, some 10.5% of the abortions performed in Mississippi were for out-of-state residents.
The CDC reports that abortions in Mississippi have been on the rise since 2016, increasing by nearly 1,000 per year in the last 5 years alone.
The vast majority of abortions in Mississippi have been performed for women in the black community, to the staggering figure of 74%. Abortions for whites in the state was at 19.5% while Hispanic abortions were at 3%. These numbers are according to the CDC for 2019.
Among age groups getting an abortion, according to the CDC’s 2019 data, 9.4% were performed for ages 19 and under while the vast majority of abortions – 79.8% – were performed for those in the 20–34-year-old range. Those above 35 years of age made up the remaining 10.8%.
Nearly 91% of all abortions performed in Mississippi were sought by unmarried women.
Over 32% of the annual total abortions were from women who have previously received an abortion.
Of the abortions in Mississippi, 65% occurred after the 7-week mark in the pregnancy.
What’s Next?
With abortion now illegal in the state, barring any future state court or legislative action, Attorney General Lynn Fitch is turning her attention to supporting mothers and providing resources for families.
In a video statement on Wednesday, Fitch said the same energy poured into overturning Roe must be channeled into empowering women who find themselves in challenging circumstances.
“We must redouble our efforts to strengthen the safety net they need to build families where they and their children thrive,” the Attorney General said.
Attorney General Fitch is calling for a variety of legislative actions in the 2023 session aimed at increasing opportunities for adoptions and supporting pregnancy resource centers.
Fitch’s office is also continuing to fight back legal challenges raised by the “pink house” abortion clinic in Jackson and their liberal legal teams.
Frank Corder
