State gets an Extra Day to Appeal 5th Circuit Appeals Court Abortion Ruling

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Saying a Sunday lightning strike disabled its computers, the state of Mississippi will get another day to ask the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a July ruling that struck down a law that would have closed Mississippi’s only abortion clinic.

A court clerk approved the extension Tuesday, giving the state until Wednesday to file.

It’s the first written confirmation that Mississippi will ask all 15 circuit judges to rehear the case. A majority of the judges must agree.

A three-judge panel earlier ruled 2-1 the 2012 law unconstitutional because it would have closed the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state’s only abortion clinic.

The law required clinic physicians to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. Physicians applied for privileges but were unable to get them.