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(CNSNews.com) - The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill that bans abortion at 15 weeks, making it the most restrictive abortion ban in the country.



The bill has exceptions for the health and life of the mother and fatal fetal anomalies.



Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said he plans to sign the bill into law.



“As I have repeatedly said, I want Mississippi to be the safest place in America for an unborn child,” Bryant tweeted. “House Bill 1510 will help us achieve that goal.”



The bill noted that unborn babies begin to move in the womb at around eight weeks gestation and at nine weeks, “all basic physiological functions are present” as well as teeth, eyes, and external genitalia. It also noted that unborn babies’ vital organs begin functioning at 10 weeks gestation and that hair, fingernails, and toenails begin to form. At 11 weeks gestation, an unborn baby’s diaphragm develops, and the baby may even hiccup. The baby is also moving freely in the womb. At 12 weeks, an unborn baby can open and close its finders, making sucking motions, and sense stimulation from the outside world while it’s inside the womb.



The American Family Association thanked Mississippi lawmakers for passing the Gestational Age Act and is spearheading a thank-you petition for lawmakers so citizens can show their appreciation for them protecting life.



“The American Family Association applauds the Mississippi legislature for passing HB 1510, which would ban the murder of unborn children after 15 weeks gestation,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon.“We are proud to see Mississippi working to become the safest state in America for unborn children. We look forward to Governor Bryant signing this bill into law.”



Planned Parenthood, criticized the bill, saying it is “the first of its kind and part of a broader agenda to ban abortion one law at a time.”



The nation’s largest abortion provider said restrictive abortion policies like those in Mississippi affect women with low income the most. “Due to systemic racism and discriminatory public policy, Black women in Mississippi are disproportionately likely to have low incomes and would be hurt the most by this dangerous legislation,” it said.



“Yet again politicians in Mississippi are trying to impose their beliefs on everyone and control women’s bodies, no matter how many people it hurts," Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “These new restrictions would make it nearly impossible for many women to get an abortion in a state that only has one abortion provider to begin with. We are fighting for families in Mississippi and everywhere because everyone has the right to decide whether and when to become a parent.”



“Abortion is a safe medical procedure and it is a critical part of the broad spectrum of reproductive health care that a woman may use in her lifetime,” Felicia Brown-Williams, Mississippi State Director for Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates said in a statement. “This ban is not only unconstitutional - it endangers women’s health care across our state. If legislators truly cared about women’s health, they would be focused on ways to improve access to health care for women, not restrict it.”