Mississippi Today

House bill would revive ballot initiative but prevent voters using it for abortion rights

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2023

House bill would revive ballot initiative but prevent voters using it for abortion rights

by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today
February 28, 2023

Mississippians would be prevented from placing an initiative on the ballot to ease or erase the state’s strict anti-abortion laws under the legislation passed late Tuesday by the House Constitution Committee.

Senate Joint Resolution 533, as amended by the House Constitution Committee Tuesday, would not allow citizens to gather enough signatures to place an issue on the ballot regarding abortion.

House Constitution Chair Fred Shanks, R-Brandon, said the decision to prevent addressing abortion via voter initiative came up through consultation with other House members.

“It was decided it would be the House position,” Shanks said. He would not say which legislators were involved in the discussions, but House Speaker Philip Gunn has been a leading anti-abortion advocate during his tenure in the Legislature.

“Regardless of what the issue is, I think people should have the right to have it considered through the initiative process,” said Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens. “It is almost like a dictatorship telling the people they have the right to speak except on this issue or that issue.

“Regardless of what the issue is, I think the people should have the right to vote.’

Legislation is being considered this session to restore the initiative process that was deemed unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court in a 2021 ruling.

Besides fixing the concerns that led to the Supreme Court declaring it unconstitutional, the proposal changes the old initiative process by allowing voters to bypass the Legislature to add or amend general law instead of changing the Constitution.

Both the House and Senate proposals increase the number signatures of registered voters needed to place an issue on the ballot from about 106,000 under the old system to about 240,000.

Disagreement over the number of signatures needed to place an issue on the ballot resulted in efforts to revive the initiative process dying during the 2022 session. While the bill Shanks passed has the same signatory requirements as the Senate bill, Shanks said he still supports the lower threshold, but feared the Senate might kill the proposal at the lower signature requirement. He said he still hopes to get a lower threshold during negotiations on the issue with Senate leaders later in the session.

“We will have to work that (required number of signatures) out in conference,” Shanks said. Conference committees are formed to hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions of legislation.

The issue banning abortion initiatives had not been publicly discussed this session until Tuesday’s Constitution Committee meeting. But after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this past summer there is no national right to an abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade, laws banning most abortions in the state went into effect.

Since then, the issue of abortion has been on the ballot in six states. In each of those elections, the citizens voted in favor of maintaining or expanding abortion rights.

Gunn and other politicians always have maintained Mississippi is an ardent anti-abortion state. But in 2011, Mississippi voters overwhelmingly rejected a so-called personhood amendment that would have defined life as beginning at conception.

The Supreme Court ruled Mississippi’s initiative invalid in 2021 because it required signatures of registered voters to be gathered equally from five congressional districts as they existed in 1990. In 2000, the state lost a congressional district based on the results of the U.S. Census. The new proposal just requires the signatures to be gathered equally from the congressional districts regardless of how many there are.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

UMMC holds free cancer screenings

Published

22 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @EricJShelton – 2025-04-30 12:00:00

by Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Resident physician Claire Babin, right, performs an oral cancer screening on Ella Holmes during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Physicians prepare for oral, head and neck cancer screenings during a free screening event at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin, center, screens Diane Carter for oral cancer as medical students Mason Nodurft, left, and Eva Kiparizoska observe during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Educational giveaways advocating against smoking are available during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Sharon Terry, senior tobacco treatment specialist, waits for patients during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Skylar Robinson, medical office assistant, left, and Kiandria Bruce, registered nurse, review materials at the patient sign-in table during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Head and neck cancer literature is available during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Dr. Alex Brooks and registered nurse Angela Noble talk during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Nina Brown, clinical manager, helps Ned Bostic with paperwork during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin performs an oral cancer screening on Ned Bostic at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Ned Bostic receives a neck cancer screening during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin, center, and medical student Hanna Watson examine Ned Bostic during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery hosted a free oral, head, and neck cancer screening Wednesday at the Jackson Medical Mall as part of Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week.

The event featured quick, noninvasive screenings aimed at catching cancer early — when treatment is most effective. Onyx Care provided free HPV vaccinations, while the ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education, and Research offered resources on smoking cessation and free services.

“These screenings take about 10 minutes and can save lives,” said Dr. Gina Jefferson, head and neck surgical oncologist at UMMC. “The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance we have of curing it.”

Tobacco and alcohol use remain major risk factors for these cancers. However, physicians say an increasing number of cases are linked to HPV, especially among younger adults with no history of smoking or drinking. Dentists are often the first to spot early signs, which can include persistent sores, lumps in the neck, or difficulty swallowing.

Oral, head and neck cancers are among the most common globally. When found early, survival rates can exceed 80 percent.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post UMMC holds free cancer screenings appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents factual information about a free cancer screening event without showing a clear ideological stance. It primarily focuses on the health benefits of early cancer detection and the availability of free resources, such as HPV vaccinations and smoking cessation support. The language used is neutral and the content is centered around public health education rather than promoting a political viewpoint. The inclusion of factual statistics, such as survival rates and risk factors, adds to its informative and objective tone. There are no signs of bias or advocacy for a particular political agenda, making this a centrist piece.

Crooked Letter Sports Podcast

Podcast: What next for Mississippi State baseball?

Published

23 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @rick_cleveland – 2025-04-30 10:46:00

by Rick Cleveland and Tyler Cleveland, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Mississippi State didn’t even wait until the end of the season to fire Chris Lemonis, who brought the national championship to Starkville not quite four years ago. Where do the Bulldogs go from here. Robbie Faulk who covers the Bulldogs more closely than anyone else joins the podcast to discuss the situation.

Stream all episodes here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Podcast: What next for Mississippi State baseball? appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Mississippi Today

Mobile sports betting users: We want to hear from you

Published

24 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-30 10:21:00

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Mississippi Today is looking to speak with current and former mobile sports betting users. We’d like to speak with people who spend considerable amounts of time and money betting on sports through online gambling sites.

We’re interested in hearing the experience of people who have suffered from gambling addiction or problems, or friends and family members of people who have. We also would like to talk with people who believe legalizing mobile sports betting would benefit Mississippi and its residents.

We want to hear from you. Please take the survey below or contact Political Reporter Michael Goldberg by email at mgoldberg@mississippitoday.org

TAKE THE SURVEY:

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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Mobile sports betting users: We want to hear from you appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article from Mississippi Today appears to present a neutral stance, focusing on gathering input from various groups of mobile sports betting users, including those who may have experienced addiction issues. The content does not advocate for or against the legalization of mobile sports betting but instead seeks to gather diverse perspectives, including those of individuals who may support or oppose it. The language used is objective and does not suggest a particular ideological perspective, allowing for a balanced exploration of the issue at hand.