Mississippi § 41-41-73 - Partial-birth abortions prohibited; penalties for violations.

§ 41-41-73. Partial-birth abortions prohibited; penalties for violations.

Any physician who knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or imprisoned in the State Penitentiary for not more than two (2) years, or both. This subsection shall not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury if no other medical procedure would suffice for that purpose. As used in this section, “partial-birth abortion” means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery. As used in this section, “physician” means a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the State of Mississippi. However, any individual who is not a physician but who nevertheless directly performs a partial-birth abortion shall be subject to the provisions of this section. The husband of a mother at the time she receives a partial-birth abortion procedure, and if the mother has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years at the time of the abortion, the mother’s parents may in a civil action obtain appropriate relief, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff’s criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion. Such relief shall include: Money damages for all injuries, psychological and physical, occasioned by the violation of this section; and Statutory damages equal to three (3) times the cost of the partial-birth abortion. A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this section for a conspiracy to violate this section.