A ban has been enacted on in-state abortion care. The import of these bans for the practice of reproductive medicine and, specifically, the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to build families, varies on a state-by-state level. While the majority of states’ abortion ban statutes are applicable in the context of a pregnancy, many state laws also include definitions stating that “personhood” begins at fertilization or even conception. Such definitions -- whether intentionally or not -- have the potential to implicate and even ban the use of ART, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), though some states have taken steps to carve this out as allowable. In a growing number of states, statutory restrictions severely limit access to abortion care and implicitly threaten the unhindered practice of reproductive medicine.

In early 2023, attorneys representing nearly two dozen states submitted a court brief submitted by Mississippi’s Attorney General seeking to remove medication abortion from America’s drugstore shelves after more than two decades of availability. The FDA has stated that pharmacies that become certified to dispense mifepristone, a medication abortion drug, can do so if an individual presents a prescription from a certified prescriber (https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/questions-and-answers-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation).

• Seemingly no impact on IVF or other ART procedures.
• Abortion only refers to an action on a pregnant woman and there are no restrictions that apply outside the context of abortion.

There are no explicit references to IVF or reproductive medicine services in the trigger law.

N/A

• “Abortion” means the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live birth, or to remove a dead fetus. 

The law does not explicitly reference or apply to other areas of the state code. 

Trigger law takes effect:

• From and after 10 days following the date of publication by the Attorney General of Mississippi that the Attorney General has determined that the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled Roe v. Wade, and that it is reasonably probable that this section would be upheld by the Court as constitutional.

• No abortion shall be performed or induced in Mississippi, except where necessary for the preservation of the mother’s life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape.
• Rape shall be an exception only if a formal charge has been filed with an appropriate law enforcement official.