After more than three years as state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs—the man who led the Mississippi State Department of Health through the COVID-19 pandemic thus far—is set to resign at the end of July.
Hundreds of young Mississippians and Alabamans knelt in a dark room, their foreheads to the floor and tears streaming down their faces as each mouthed inaudible prayers, a foreboding melody drowning out their voices. On the stage in front of them, violet lights illuminated the hair of musicians and ministers on the stage, save for a balding man with a thick mustache who squeezed his eyes and rocked back-and-forth as he spoke.
Mississippi’s attorney general claims that “God selected this case” to overturn Roe v. Wade, referring Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. For years, Christian dominionists and their allies have sought to remake the U.S. Supreme Court in order to achieve their goals and establish God’s kingdom on earth. Ending legalized abortion is just one of those goals.
For decades, the Christian Dominionist movement has sought to remake earthly government in its image. This is Part I in an in-depth series exploring how Christian dominionists and their allies worked to get Roe v. Wade and abortion rights back before the U.S. Supreme Court—and how they used Mississippi to make it happen.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves confirmed this weekend that his state will swiftly move to enact a trigger law banning nearly all abortions starting from the moment of conception if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade.
A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared sympathetic Wednesday to the State of Mississippi’s argument that it should uphold the state’s 15-week abortion ban, imperiling almost a half century of precedent set by Roe v. Wade.
Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart told the nation’s high court that Roe v. Wade and a follow-up case in 1992 that affirmed it, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, had “haunted” the nation. Mississippi wants the court to overturn Roe v. Wade and uphold a 2018 law it passed banning abortions after 15 weeks.
When Magnolia State state residents rejected the Personhood Amendment ten years ago this week by a 58%-to-42% vote, they defied national expectations. The Personhood Amendment, also known as Amendment 26, would have enshrined a definition of the word “person” in the state constitution that would have included even fertilized human eggs, theoretically banning all abortions.
Abortion rights are more vulnerable to Supreme Court reversal now than at any time since the court legalized the procedure in its landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade. The court is set to weigh in on abortion restrictions from at least two states this term. The first is a Texas law effectively outlawing abortions after six weeks. The second is a Mississippi law barring abortions after 15 weeks.
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