1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Mississippi Court Halts Enforcement of New Abortion Law April 10, 2018 A federal district court in Mississippi has halted the enforcement of a new state law that prohibits the performance of an abortion once th
2、e gestational age of the fetus is greater than 15 weeks. While other states have enacted similar abortion restrictions, Mississippi is unique in prohibiting the procedure at such an early gestational age. Among the 25 states to adopt restrictions, most have generally limited the procedure once the p
3、ost-fertilization age of the fetus is 20 or 24 weeks. Notably, state laws in Arizona and Idaho that prohibited abortions once the fetus reached a gestational age of 20 weeks were invalidated because they were found to be in conflict with Supreme Court precedent. An Arkansas law that prohibited abort
4、ions once the fetus had a detectable heartbeat and was at least a gestational age of 12 weeks was invalidated on the same grounds. Because similar abortion legislation has been introduced at the federal level, the district courts further consideration of Mississippis Gestational Age Act (GAA) is lik