Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) signed eight
anti-abortion
measures into law Wednesday, continuing a “new pro-life agenda” after a lawsuit from his state
overturned
Roe v. Wade
last year.
The
Hospitality State
laws will reform adoption and foster care, as well as implement and expand support systems for mothers and babies.
FLORIDA HEARTBEAT LAW HELPS DESANTIS’S PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECTS
Reeves signaled these reforms in his State of the State Address this year, saying, “This is our new pro-life agenda. I’ve said before, it will not be easy, and it will not be free. But I know that together, we are going to get the job done and deliver the support Mississippi mothers and babies deserve.”
One law will
increase the tax credit for anti-abortion clinics
and pregnancy resource centers from $3.5 million to $10 million, and another will create a
state-run website
with information on how to find anti-abortion resources.
A ”
baby drop-off law
” will extend the time within which a mother can surrender her infant at a “safe haven location.”
The other five bills deal with adoption, foster care, and Child Protection Services.
HB 510 creates a ”
Foster Parents’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
,” which “shall be provided to all foster parents at foster parent training.”
The measure sets standards for foster parents and their interactions with Child Protective Services, as well as offers opportunities for families to seek professional assistance from doctors and teachers, among other things.
The ”
path to permanency
” bill creates the Department of Child Protection Services as a separate state agency outside the purview of the Department of Human Services, where it has been housed as a sub-agency. It also requires that children have their own counsel in certain proceedings as well as in cases of abuse or neglect.
Reeves also signed an
appropriations bill
funding the new department.
SB 2384 establishes the
Foster Care and Adoption Task Force
to look at Mississippi’s adoption and foster care laws and recommend changes.
Such issues include a definition of “compelling and extraordinary reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child,” as well as “willful” and “non-willful” neglect.
The task force is also charged with reviewing fatherhood initiatives to “increase fatherhood participation.”
SB 2696 allows for a
tax credit
of up to $5,000 to offset the cost of adoption for children adopted from outside Mississippi, and a similar credit of $10,000 for children adopted inside the state.
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“The state that restored the right of the people and elected leaders to protect unborn children makes history again today, as Governor Reeves signs eight pro-life safety net measures into law,” SBA Pro-Life America Southern Regional Director Caitlin Connors said in a press release. “Through its Gestational Age Act, the life at conception protection that is now in effect, and more policies and programs that help families, it’s incredible to see how much ground Mississippi has covered in the course of a year to protect the unborn and serve their mothers in the Dobbs era.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Mississippi House Democrats for comment.
