Mississippi Code

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-31 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of July 2026

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The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Abortion" means the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live birth or to remove a dead fetus.

(b) "Medical emergency" means that condition which, on the basis of the physician's best clinical judgment, so complicates a pregnancy as to necessitate an immediate abortion to avert the death of the mother or for which a twenty-four-hour delay will create grave peril of immediate and irreversible loss of major bodily function.

(c) "Probable gestational age of the unborn child" means what, in the judgment of the attending physician, will with reasonable probability be the gestational age of the unborn child at the time the abortion is planned to be performed.

Laws, 1991, ch. 439, § 1, eff. 7/1/1991 (Governor's veto overridden by the Legislature on 3/28/1991).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1992–2002 · leading case: Helen B. Barnes, M.D. v. Mike Moore, Attorney Gen. of the State of Mississippi & His Employees, Agents & Successors, 970 F.2d 12 (5th Cir. 1992).

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Helen B. Barnes, M.D. v. Mike Moore, Attorney Gen. of the State of Mississippi & His Employees, Agents & Successors, 970 F.2d 12 (5th Cir. 1992). · cites it 2× “In March 1991, the Mississippi Legislature enacted the Informed Consent to Abortion Act, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 41-41-31, et seq., effective that July.”

Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, 716 So. 2d 645 (Miss. 1998). · cites it 2× “Specifically, Plaintiffs argue that the following are unconstitutional: Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-31 et seq. (1993) (requiring a twenty-four hour waiting period after statemandated consultation on information pertaining to abortion and pregnancy before a woman may have an…”

Barnes v. Moore (5th Cir. 1992). · cites it 3× “In March 1991, the Mississippi Legislature enacted the Informed Consent to Abortion Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 41-41-31 , et seq., effective that July.”

Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Kirk Fordice (Miss. 1995). · cites it 2× “Specifically, Plaintiffs argue that the following are unconstitutional: Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-31 et seq. (1993) (requiring a twenty-four hour waiting period after state-mandated consultation on information pertaining to abortion and pregnancy before a woman may have an…”

Woman's Choice-East v. Newman, Scott (7th Cir. 2002). “” Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-31 (b). In Indiana, an abortion clinic may disregard the notice-and-waiting requirements if “the attending physician, in the exercise of her clinical judgment in light of all factors relevant to a woman’s life or health, concludes in good faith that…”

— Miss. Code Ann. § 41-41-31(a) — 1 case

Helen B. Barnes, M.D. v. Mike Moore, Attorney Gen. of the State of Mississippi & His Employees, Agents & Successors, 970 F.2d 12 (5th Cir. 1992). “In March 1991, the Mississippi Legislature enacted the Informed Consent to Abortion Act, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 41-41-31, et seq., effective that July.”

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