Mississippi’s Ban on Abortions After Six Weeks Held Invalid

A Mississippi law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected, which usually occurs at about six weeks of pregnancy, is unconstitutional, the Fifth Circuit said Thursday.

The fact that a fetal heartbeat can be detected at some point before viability doomed the law, the court said in an unsigned opinion. The U.S. Supreme Court has said a woman has a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy at any time before a fetus would be able to live outside the womb.

The court referenced an earlier decision, in which it invalidated the state’s ban on abortions that take ...