JACKSON, Miss. -- A Mississippi judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged a potential conflict between a 2022 state law that bans most abortions and a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that said abortion is guaranteed in the Mississippi Constitution because of the right of privacy. Hinds County Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin wrote that the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists lacks legal standing for the lawsuit it filed against the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure in November 2022.
The association did not show that the licensing board has threatened disciplinary action against any of the roughly 35 association members for refusing to refer patients for abortion services elsewhere, Martin wrote. She also wrote that the association's “allegation of speculative harm is unfit for review." “Mississippi law grants the Board the power to suspend, revoke, or restrict the license of any physician who performs or aids certain abortions,” Martin wrote.
“But the Board has no express authority to discipline a physician who declines to provide abortion services on conscience grounds.” Aaron Rice, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he will try to revive the case. “We will appeal the ruling and look forward to presenting this important constitutional question to the Mississippi Supreme Court," Rice said Wednesday.
The U.S. Supreme Court used a Mississippi case in June 2022 to overturn abortion rights nationwide.
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