Governor Bans Abortions in Mississippi, Claiming Need to Preserve Medical Supplies
All “elective surgeries,” including abortions, will cease in Mississippi for the next two weeks under a new executive order, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday. The governor claimed that the move will free up personal protective equipment for hospitals to use as they deal with an escalating number of COVID-19 cases statewide.
“We have to make sure we have adequate supplies of PPE so that health-care workers can safely tend to those patients that are in our hospitals,” Reeves said in a live streamed press conference this afternoon, as the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases climbed to 2,469.
At one point in the livestreamed press conference, one reporter asked Reeves to clarify whether the temporary ban on elective surgeries includes abortions.
“It shuts down all electives surgeries,” replied Reeves, a Republican who has long campaigned on and championed laws designed to outlaw or restrict abortion in the state, including last year’s six-week ban that is currently being litigated in federal court.
Read more: https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2020/apr/10/governor-bans-abortions-mississippi-claiming-need-/