Mississippi passes law banning abortion after 15 weeks

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers on Thursday passed what is likely to be the nation's most restrictive abortion law, making the procedure illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The House voted 75-34 in favor of the measure, and Gov. Phil Bryant has said he will sign it.

The owner of Mississippi's only abortion clinic has pledged to sue— a move lawmakers not only knew to expect, but seemed to be encouraging, in hopes of eventually getting the U. S. Supreme Court to take up the issue and allow states to begin restricting abortion earlier in pregnancy.

"It seems like a pretty simple bill designed to test the viability line that the Supreme Court has drawn," said David Forte, a law professor at Ohio's Cleveland State University.