In mostly abortion-free Mississippi, court battle continues

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An out-of-state physicians’ group is said to lack legal standing to challenge a 25-year-old Mississippi Supreme Court ruling recognizing a right to abortion under the state constitution. That’s the argument made in court papers Friday by attorneys for six Mississippi women who support abortion rights. The state’s only abortion clinic shut down in July, weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upended abortion rights nationwide with a case that originated in Mississippi. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists sued in November. The suit argues that there is a potential conflict between a law now in effect banning most abortions and the 1998 ruling that abortion is protected by the state constitution.