Mississippi governor says he will enforce law banning most abortions in state if Roe is overturned

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday said his state will enforce a law banning most abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned, days after the Supreme Court held a hearing on the Magnolia State’s 15-week abortion ban that could chip away at the landmark 1973 ruling.

A “snapback law” for abortion is currently in existence in Mississippi, which calls for most abortions in the state to be banned if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The only exemptions to the law would be rape and if the life of the mother is in danger.

Pressed by co-host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” if Mississippi would start enforcing the law in the state if Roe is overturned, Reeves said yes,

“That is a yes because if you believe as I believe very strongly that that innocent, unborn child in the mother’s womb is in fact a child, the most important word when we talk about unborn children is not unborn, but it’s children,” he said.

“And so yes, I’ll do everything I can to protect the lives of those children,” he added.

The governor said, however, that such a move is “dependent upon how the court rules and exactly what those opinions allow us to do,” while also noting that Roe v. Wade being overturned would not completed cut off abortion access nationwide.

“I just want to make sure everyone is clear that if Roe v, Wade is overturned, that doesn’t mean that no one in America is going to have access, although that might make people like me happy, but what it does mean is that all 50 states, the laboratories of democracy, are going to have the ability to enact their own laws with respect to abortion, and I think that’s the way it should be in America,” he said.

The governor’s comments come after the Supreme Court held a hearing on Wednesday for Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.