RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Mississippi is about to become the most difficult place in the country to get an abortion. Desare Frazier with Mississippi Public Broadcasting reports from Jackson.
DESARE FRAZIER, BYLINE: Lawmakers in the Mississippi House passed a bill that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy instead of the current 20 weeks. The exceptions are a medical emergency or a severely abnormal fetus. House Democrat Alyce Clarke of Jackson voted against the measure. She says the state hasn't done enough to provide comprehensive sex education.
ALYCE CLARKE: In the 34 years I've been here, they come up with a more restrictive abortion law every year. And we don't want to give mothers - family planning we don't want to do. We don't want to pass out contraceptives.
FRAZIER: Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn supports the bill.
PHILIP GUNN: We've worked very hard over many, many years to try to protect the sanctity of human life. We believe in the value of human life, and this is something that we think is important.
FRAZIER: Abortion rights advocates say the measure is unconstitutional. Planned Parenthood's state director, Felicia Brown-Williams, urged legislators not to support the bill, arguing the goal of the legislation is to challenge a woman's right to an abortion.
FELICIA BROWN-WILLIAMS: The national anti-abortion group is pushing this legislation specifically in states where they feel like they might be able to get a favorable court judgment because they'd like to take this to the Supreme Court. And their hope is that they can overturn Roe v. Wade.
FRAZIER: Republican Governor Phil Bryant says he'll sign the bill.
PHIL BRYANT: I hope at some point, Mississippi is free of abortion completely. And I hope it is before I leave office.
FRAZIER: The owner of Mississippi's only clinic in Jackson plans to sue the state. Mississippi's attorney general, a Democrat, points out courts have refused to allow states to ban abortions earlier than 20 weeks. For NPR News, I'm Desare Frazier in Jackson, Miss.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUFVYN'S "WHISPERS")
MARTIN: Coming up this afternoon on All Things Considered - recently in Ethiopia, hundreds of blind people showed up at this remote hospital hoping for a miracle, hoping to be able to see again. The hospital compound was the site of a week-long campaign to surgically remove and repair cataracts. To hear that story and more, ask your smart speaker to play NPR or your local member station by name.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUFVYN'S "WHISPERS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
