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Trial set to challenge Mississippi abortion law

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, February 1, 2005

Ambulatory surgery centers and other outpatient surgical facilities in Mississippi may find themselves with more patients seeking abortions, pending the outcome of an upcoming trial.

The trial, set to begin August 1, challenges Mississippi's efforts to enforce a new law barring early second trimester abortions at abortion clinics. The law, which would require anyone wanting an abortion during that stage to go to an outpatient surgical facility instead of a clinic, would have taken effect in July 2004, but it was temporarily blocked.

The state contends that the law is intended to ensure the safety of patients by moving the procedure from the clinics to a facility better equipped to handle the operation. The new law would bar abortions at clinics starting at 13 weeks' gestation, whereas the old law allows clinics to perform the procedure for up to 16 weeks' gestation.

To learn more about this case and the controversy behind it, click here for coverage of the issue by the Mississippi newspaper the Clarion-Ledger.

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