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Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves would not say Sunday whether his state would ban birth control methods in the future after confirming that his state would outlaw abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The Republican governor appeared on two news shows Sunday, where he was asked about the future of contraceptives in Mississippi, but he did not directly answer questions regarding birth control, including intrauterine devices (IUD), and whether he would support outlawing them.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Reeves for clarity on whether he has any intentions on “seeking to ban IUDs or plan B” in the future.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about coronavirus testing in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“That is not what we are focused on at this time,” Reeves said. “We’re focused on looking at, seeing what the court allows for, the bill that is before the court is a 15-week ban. We believe that the overturning of Roe is the correct decision by the court.”
Reeves went on to say that he believes that when it comes to abortion, Mississippi does not “have laws on the books that would lead to arresting individuals or anything along those lines.”
“You mean not arresting girls or women, but you would arrest doctors?” Tapper asked.
“Well, certainly I don’t think that you’re gonna see doctors performing abortions if we have a state statute which says that they’re not allowable, except for those exceptions that we’ve mentioned earlier,” Reeves said.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” anchor Chuck Todd also asked Reeves whether outlawing abortion in Mississippi would include birth control methods like IUDs, prompting Reeves to say he doesn’t think “that it is going to apply to those that choose to use birth control.”
“I believe that clearly a life begins at conception,” Reeves added.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves asks a question during a meeting of the State Board of Election Commissioners, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Jackson, Miss. Kanye West will appear as a presidential candidate on Mississippi’s ballot in November, after being approved as a qualified candidate by the State Board of Election Commissioners on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Later in the interview, Todd brought up the “life begins at conception” quote and asked Reeves whether he would sign legislation to ban contraception if it was brought before him to sign.
“Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen in Mississippi. I’m sure they’ll have those conversations in other states,” Reeves said.
“But you’re not answering the question,” Todd said.
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“Well that’s always the case. There’s so many things we can talk about,” Reeves said before highlighting some of the resources his administration is providing for pregnancy resource centers, including adoption resources.
Reeves’ comments come about a week after an leak of a draft opinion from February signaled the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.