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From Wikipedia's Dobbs article:

In March 2018, the Mississippi Legislature 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.

On the other hand, the BBC says that Mississippi had a seemingly broader ban on the books, contingent on Roe being overturned:

The Mississippi "trigger law" was passed in 2007 and was contingent on the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. Some 13 states had laws of this kind in place and have already severely curtailed or blocked abortion access in the weeks since.

According to the BBC, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi is closing today because of the latter (2007) law coming into effect.

How much more restrictive is this 2007 law compared to the 2018 one, in terms of what it outlaws?

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TL;DR: All abortion is banned, except in cases of rape or "where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life" (which allows treatment of conditions such as ectopic pregnancy). The 2018 act permits abortion within the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Here is the actual text of the 2007 law:

SECTION 2. (1) As used in this section, the term "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.

(2) No abortion shall be performed or induced in the State of Mississippi, except in the case where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape.

(3) For the purposes of this act, rape shall be an exception to the prohibition for an abortion only if a formal charge of rape has been filed with an appropriate law enforcement official.

(4) Any person, except the pregnant woman, who purposefully, knowingly or recklessly performs or attempts to perform or induce an abortion in the State of Mississippi, except in the case where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years.

[...]

SECTION 4. At such time as the Attorney General of Mississippi determines that the United States Supreme Court has overruled the decision of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and that as a result, it is reasonably probable that Section 2 of this act would be upheld by the court as constitutional, the Attorney General shall publish his determination of that fact in the administrative bulletin published by the Secretary of State as provided in Section 25-43-2.101, Mississippi Code of 1972.

[...]

SECTION 6. Sections 1, 3, 4 and 5 of this act shall take effect from and after July 1, 2007. Section 2 of this act shall take effect and be in force from and after ten (10) days following the date of publication by the Attorney General of Mississippi in the administrative bulletin published by the Secretary of State as provided in Section 25-43-2.101, Mississippi Code of 1972, that the Attorney General has determined that the United States Supreme Court has overruled the decision of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and that it is reasonably probable that Section 2 of this act would be upheld by the court as constitutional.

And here is paragraph 8 of the 2018 law:

(8) Construction. Nothing in this section shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion or as altering generally accepted medical standards. It is not the intention of this section to make lawful an abortion that is otherwise unlawful. An abortion that complies with this section, but violates any other state law, is unlawful. An abortion that complies with another state law, but violates this section is unlawful.

Taken together, it's pretty clear that the 2007 law effectively displaces the 2018 law altogether.

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  • You wrote that this is the 2018 law, yet the last article and the link you give say it's a law from 2007. Which is it ?
    – Gouvernathor
    Commented Jul 8, 2022 at 14:04
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    @Gouvernathor: Clarified.
    – Kevin
    Commented Jul 8, 2022 at 17:33
  • Ok, it's clearer, but which of the 2007 law is overriden by the 2018 law ? Typically, the absoluteness of the (2) seems contradictory with the 15-week period you're referring to from 2018, so... which parts are still relevent ? Does the 2007 law, on the contrary, by its status of "trigger law", override the 2018 one even though it's more recent ?
    – Gouvernathor
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 17:39
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    @Gouvernathor: As I expected, there is a paragraph in the 2018 law which explicitly states that the 2007 law takes priority.
    – Kevin
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 20:41

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