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Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves Rogelio V. Solis-Pool/Getty Images

JACKSON, Mississippi (LifeSiteNews) – Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed eight new pro-life laws Wednesday, largely focused on increasing state support for alternatives to abortion.

The Washington Examiner reported that the laws increase the tax credit for crisis pregnancy centers from $3.5 million to $10 million, establish a government website offering information on life-affirming pregnancy resources, extend the time in which mothers can drop off newborns at safe havens, establish a “bill of rights” for foster parents, separates the Department of Child Protection Services from the Department of Human Services and strengthens children’s legal representation in abuse or neglect cases, set up a task force to review and recommend improvements to the state’s adoption and foster system, and offer new tax credits to offset the costs of adoption.

“This is our new pro-life agenda,” the governor has previously said of the reforms. “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.”

“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. “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.”

Abortion is already illegal in Mississippi with exceptions for rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life starting at conception, and illegal without rape or incest exceptions after six weeks. In fact, the legal battle over its 15-week abortion ban led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed the rest of its pro-life laws to take effect, and the abortion facility that brought the suit, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has since been shut down.

In the wake of Roe’s fall, pro-abortion activists have settled on multiple strategies to promote and preserve abortion “access,” including interstate distribution of abortion pills, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, attempting to enshrine “rights” to the practice in state constitutions, and attempting to construct new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to codify a “right” to abortion in federal law, which would not only restore but expand the Roe status quo by making it illegal for states to pass virtually any pro-life laws. Democrats currently lack the votes to do so, but whether they get those votes is sure to be one of the major issues of the 2024 elections.

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