JACKSON — Mississippi lawmakers continue to push ahead with a proposal that could become one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation.
The House on Monday amended and passed Senate Bill 2116, which would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. The House and Senate must work out differences in their respective bills before it moves forward to Gov. Phil Bryant.
Similar bills are being considered in other states. Conservatives want to push an abortion case to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Mississippi enacted a 15-week abortion ban last year, and a federal judge declared the law unconstitutional. The state has appealed that ruling.
Bryant has said he would sign the new bill into law.
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