A federal judge has ruled to temporarily block Mississippi's new abortion ban that prevents most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Why it matters: Judge Carlton Reeves' injunction is just the start of a legal battle conservatives are hoping to take all the way up to the Supreme Court. Mississippi is 1 of 4 states that have passed a fetal heartbeat law, and is 1 of the first to be challenged in court. On Friday, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Alabama Women's Center sued the state Alabama over its restrictive abortion ban.
What they're saying: Reeves wrote in his opinion that "allowing the law to take effect would force the clinic to stop providing most abortion care...by banning abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, the law prevents a woman's free choice, which is central to personal dignity and autonomy."
