Last updated on December 19, 2025
Mississippi is characterized as a most restrictive state by the Guttmacher Institute.
Abortion is banned in almost all circumstances in Mississippi (with exceptions for preservation of the mother’s life and certain cases of rape).
In the US, people who are not white and people with low incomes are more likely to experience barriers to reproductive health care access.
IN THIS STATE
As of 2023, 615,000 women1 are of reproductive age in Mississippi.
- 18.0 percent are low income (higher than the national average)
- 6.3 percent are likely eligible for Medicaid, if they have dependent children, because their income is at or below 27 percent of the federal poverty level (higher than the national average)
- 49.7 percent are nonwhite (similar to the national average), and Black people are the largest nonwhite group (39.4 percent; higher than the national average)
- 15.0 percent are uninsured (higher than the national average)
Mississippi has not expanded Medicaid and only provides coverage to parents with incomes up to 22 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and pregnant women up to 199 percent of FPL. Adults without dependent children are not eligible. Mississippi has extended pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage up to 12 months postpartum. Mississippi does not utilize state funds to cover abortion for Medicaid beneficiaries. The state does cover family planning services for people not otherwise eligible for Medicaid with incomes up to 199 percent of FPL.
Accessing Abortion Care
In 2020, one clinic provided abortions. In 2025, no clinics provided abortions in Mississippi.
Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are organizations—often operated by anti-abortion, nonmedical, and/or religiously affiliated groups—that aim to deter pregnant people from certain reproductive health care services, including abortion and some contraceptive methods. In 2023, there were 29 CPCs in Mississippi.
Before Mississippi’s total abortion ban, patients faced the following restrictions:
If abortion were legal in Mississippi, the following restrictions on abortion access would apply:
Before Mississippi’s total abortion ban, abortion providers faced the following restrictions that limited their ability to practice:
Accessing Contraceptive Care
According to Power to Decide, around 210,000 women of reproductive age in Mississippi live in contraceptive deserts, putting them at increased risk of a mistimed or unintended pregnancy.
Mississippi does not have any of the following protections for contraception access:
What to Watch For
In 2007, Mississippi passed Senate Bill 2391, a near-total abortion ban that went into effect after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Dobbs was a challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week ban, which was in place prior to the ruling.
In May 2024, Mississippi and Louisiana sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (State of Louisiana et al. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), challenging a rule tied to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires workplace accommodations for employees who need time off work to undergo or recover from an abortion. In May 2025, a federal court issued an order vacating the portion of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that requires employers to provide accommodations for "elective abortions of employees that are not necessary to treat a medical condition related to pregnancy."
1 Though we use the terminology of woman/women, we recognize that not all individuals capable of pregnancy identify as women.
