Mississippi Wants Court Redo of 15-Week Abortion Ban Challenge

Mississippi is asking the entire Fifth Circuit to reconsider striking down a law that prohibits previability abortions after a fetus reaches 15 weeks’ gestation.

A three-judge panel upheld a ruling invalidating the state law in mid-December.

Bans on abortions that take place before a fetus is capable of living outside the womb “are unconstitutional regardless of the State’s interests,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said.

States may regulate abortion so long as the regulation doesn’t impose an undue burden on women’s rights, but they may not ban previability abortions, the court said. Mississippi’s law is a ...