Press Release

Attorney General Ellison continues support for women’s reproductive rights

Joins coalition of 21 attorneys general in amicus brief in asking 5th Circuit to uphold permanent injunction on ‘plainly unconstitutional’ Mississippi law

April 15, 2019 (SAINT PAUL) — Attorney General Ellison today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that supports Mississippi’s last abortion clinic in Jackson Women’s Health Organization, et al. v. State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, et al. The case challenges House Bill 1510, which prohibits doctors from providing abortion services past 15 weeks. The coalition argues that state laws cannot prohibit a woman from her constitutionally-protected right to terminate her pregnancy before viability under Roe v. Wade, and that the banning of abortions after 15 weeks flatly forbids women from exercising their right to choose pre-viability abortion. The attorneys general argue, “Because Mississippi’s law prohibits women from exercising their right to obtain an abortion before viability (about 24 weeks), it is plainly unconstitutional.”

“The Mississippi law is a direct assault on women’s constitutionally-protected right to control their own reproductive health, which Minnesota women have relied on for 46 years,” Attorney General Ellison said. “I joined this brief because what happens to Mississippi women matters to Minnesota women. Women everywhere deserve to live with dignity and respect. Controlling your own body and your own health is fundamental to that.”

On March 19, 2018, the State of Mississippi enacted House Bill 1510. That same day, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, as the sole abortion provider in Mississippi, filed suit challenging the ban and requesting a temporary restraining order. On November 20, 2018, the district court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs and issued a permanent injunction. The court held that the proposed state law violated women’s right to due process under the 14th Amendment.

Despite this, on March 21, 2019, the State of Mississippi enacted an even stricter ban on reproductive-health services that could prohibit abortions as early as 6 weeks.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in filing the brief are California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who led the coalition, and the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. The amicus brief is available on the website of California Attorney General Becerra.