GIRL POWER?

Mississippi AG: Abortion Ban Will ‘Empower’ Women to Pursue Careers and Have Kids

The bizarre claim comes as Attorney General Fitch seeks to overturn ‘Roe v. Wade’ in her own state.

Overturning Roe v. Wade and banning most legal abortions will “empower” women to pursue careers while raising children—at least, according to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. Speaking to Catholic television host Catherine Hadro late last week, Fitch implored viewers to “think about… the babies that will be saved, the mother that will get the chance to really redirect their lives.” She argued that times have changed, and women can both “achieve [their] dreams and goals” while having “those beautiful children as well.”

This is Fitch’s argument as the central plaintiff in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case she’s briefed for the Supreme Court. The court agreed to review the challenge to Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in May. Last Monday, 154 economists co-signed a counter brief rebutting Fitch’s assertion that Mississippi women’s financial circumstances are generally so peachy that they don’t require a right to choose, calling the claim “particularly bizarre.” SCOTUS’ decision on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, struck down by a court in 2019, is likely to be handed down in the first half of 2022.