Abortion ‘Ban’ DOA
by Adam Lynch
Photo by Adam Lynch
March 28, 2006
After weeks of sending abortion-rights supporters into a furious tizzy, a bill to ban the procedure in Mississippi flittered away into impotence as it passed its March 27 deadline for legislation in the regular session Monday. The bill, which might have banned all abortions except in cases of rape or incest, or to protect the life of the mother, fell to death with a frustrated shake of the head and a few dark, smoldering looks toward Rep. Steve Holland, the Plantersville Democrat who angered Democrats and Republicans alike by introducing the bill.
The abortion ban originally came hurling out of the House weeks ago when Holland found a Senate Bill on his Public Health Committee desk that he called "another Republican scheme to peck pro-choice to death." That earlier version of the Senate bill, authored by Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, sought to force any patient seeking an abortion to see a sonogram of the developing infant and to hear the fetus' heartbeat.
Holland said he took personal offense at the bill, which joins a host of other state restrictions such as a mandatory waiting time, parental notification and informed-consent laws seeking to make abortion as difficult as possible without risking court intervention by banning it outright.
"I looked at this thing and just said to hell with it. It's time for this issue to be voted on," Holland said earlier this month. Holland struck the sonogram and heartbeat language from the bill and replaced it with a bill outlawing abortion outright—angering abortion-rights supporters who say that Holland was playing political games instead of leading a serious debate on an issue vital to the rights of Mississippians.
"It's either a scheme to snatch a political weapon away from Republicans, or a stupid show in how to snatch away a weapon while shooting yourself in the foot with it," said Daniel Kasem, a Jacksonian who was flabbergasted by Holland's bill. Republicans, though, were the ones sputtering with anger Monday night. In the hour leading up to the bill deadline, Holland—accompanied by Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, and a reporter and an intern from the Jackson Free Press—went to dinner at C.S.' Deli. There he fed on fried chicken and pork chops, telling stories about his career as an undertaker, and killing time he might have spent in conference negotiating and arguing with Republicans over the bill's language.
By the time Holland paid his check and returned to the Capitol and leisurely presented his most recent version of the bill to Senate conferees, House and Senate health committee members had only 12 minutes left to reach a consensus on the conference report before sending it out to the House and Senate for approval. Minutes after conferees started reading through the report, Holland said, "You've got five minutes to sign your signatures."
Senate Public Health Committee Chairman Nunnelee said he had not seen the conference report prior to the meeting and was angry that the House alteration of SB 2922 removed the teeth from a proposed abortion ban.
"The language in this bill basically says that this law will take effect when the United States Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade," Holland said.
Nunnelee, shaken and furious, said the meeting was not begun in good faith.
"I sat in here for an hour and a half. After he set the appointment, he walks in 12 minutes before the deadline with a very complex piece of legislation. It's only two sections, but they are two very important sections," Nunnelee said.
Sections 5 and 6 were the bill killers for Nunnelee, because they stated that the abortion ban would kick in only when the Mississippi Attorney General "determines that the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled the decision of Roe v. Wade."
Moak, a Public Health and Human Services Committee member, argued that the Legislature should not be in the job of second-guessing the Supreme Court, and said the dubious Sections 5 and 6 were added only after consultation with National Right to Life, a group formed to end abortion in the U.S.
A terse back and forth ensued between House and the Senate committee members.
"I've still got questions," Nunnelee said.
"Well you've got five minutes to ask them," Holland replied.
"I can't help it if you show up 12 minutes before deadline," Nunnelee said.
"Well, the process has been established since 1817," Holland mumbled back.
Senate Public Health and Welfare committee member Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, D-Brookhaven, was also outraged.
"When was this printed?" she demanded.
"About 45 minutes to an hour ago," Holland said. "Look, you make it what you want to make it, OK? The House of Representatives … has given you a fair bill on abortion effective when Roe v. Wade is overturned. That's a position that we will not retreat from, and we will not compromise."
Republicans in Mississippi have repeatedly used support of abortion rights as a weapon against Democratic opponents, especially in competition for conservative voters.
Holland said he sought to disarm pro-life Republicans in upcoming elections by throwing them an abortion ban bill that they would be forced to duck.
Still, ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director Nsombi Lambright said she did not appreciate Holland's method, even though she was glad the bill was dead.
"I just hate that we wasted this much tax money on a very stupid bill," Lambright said.
Jackson resident Barry Shaw said he was bitter that Mississippi had thrown away the privilege of being one of the first states in the nation to outlaw "the murder of babies."
"We almost had it," Shaw said. "We were closer than we've ever been since 1973, but this won't be the last year. I promise you.
"It's not over."
© Jackson Free Press, Inc.
