A handful of states have in recent years enacted laws that place restrictions on the procedure, especially on late-term abortions, citing hotly debated medical research that a fetus feels pain at 20 weeks of gestation, halfway through a full-term pregnancy. The Mississippi bill referred to that research.
"Today is an important day for protecting the unborn and the health and safety of women in Mississippi," Governor Phil Bryant said in a statement after signing the bill, which becomes law on July 1.