In March 2018, the state of Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act, which banned any abortion operation after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for a medical emergency or severe fetal abnormality but none for cases of rape or incest.[1] The medical emergency exception allows abortions done to save the life of a pregnant woman and in situations where "the continuation of the pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".[17][18] The severe fetal abnormality exception allows abortions of fetuses whose defects will leave them incapable of living outside the womb.[18][19]