Paul, Weiss and CRR File Challenge Against Mississippi’s Ban on Abortion After 6 Weeks of Pregnancy

Paul, Weiss and co-counsel the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a motion seeking to expand their current lawsuit, on behalf of the last remaining abortion provider in Mississippi, to add a challenge to a law signed March 21 that would ban abortion in the state after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The plaintiffs also sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of the ban, which would otherwise take effect on July 1.

The ban, a so-called “heartbeat ban,” would criminalize abortions performed after the point at which fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is at approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The ban was passed just four months after Paul, Weiss and the Center won an important ruling—now on appeal to the Fifth Circuit—striking down and permanently enjoining a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy as unconstitutional under clearly established Supreme Court precedent. The plaintiffs’ motion papers explain that the 6-week ban is similarly unconstitutional, and if allowed to go into effect, would be a near-total ban on abortion in the state. Many women do not even know they are pregnant before 6 weeks, and Mississippi’s many other restrictive abortion regulations—which are the subject of our existing lawsuit—already force many women to delay their abortion care.

Mississippi is one of several states that are considering, or have enacted, similarly restrictive bans on abortion as part of a strategy to ask the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade. 

The Paul, Weiss team on the matter includes, among others, litigation partners Claudia Hammerman and Roberto Gonzalez, counsel Aaron Delaney and associates Caitlin Grusauskas, Crystal Johnson, Heather Milligan, Paul Gross, Ariel Spierer, Avery Burrell and Clare Tilton.