This post is a paid advertisement.
Today conservative Republican candidate for Attorney General Mark Baker sharply criticized Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood for skipping the first hearing in defense of Mississippi’s Heartbeat Law.
"Because
protection of the unborn is the pre-eminent moral issue of our time,
every candidate for public office should state their position on
abortion directly and clearly
to voters,” Baker said. “I voted for the Heartbeat Law and other
pro-life legislation in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Hood’s
inaction and apparent apathy toward this issue is a disservice to the
majority of Mississippi voters who are staunchly
pro-life, and to their elected representatives who crafted this law.”
The
Heartbeat Bill would prohibit an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is
detected. It mirrors other similar “heartbeat” measures recently passed
by other state legislatures.
The day after Governor Bryant signed the historic Heartbeat Law, the state was
sued
by the Jackson
Women’s Health Clinic, the state’s only abortion clinic. The first
hearing in the case was held in Jackson on Tuesday, May 21st.
On Friday, May 24th, Judge Carlton Reeves ruled against the
state of Mississippi and struck down the Heartbeat Law. The state will appeal the ruling to the 5th District Circuit Court.
The State of Mississippi is
still appealing
a pro-life case that Jim Hood’s office lost last year. Mississippi’s
next Attorney General is likely to take over the current case upon
assuming office next year.
“Jim
Hood won’t take time out of his schedule to defend unborn life and the
laws of Mississippi, but I will do it out of duty and conviction,” Baker
concluded. “I have the
experience and passion to protect life. This is why Mississippi
desperately needs a pro-life Attorney General who respects and reflects
our values and will enthusiastically defend the unborn.”
Representative
Baker has served as a member of the Mississippi House of
Representatives for four terms, representing District 74 which currently
includes
parts of Rankin County and which previously included parts of Madison
County. Representative Baker is Chairman of the House Judiciary En Banc
and Judiciary A Committees and is a member of the Ways and Means,
Banking and Finance, Transportation and Investigate
State Offices Committees. Mark graduated from the University of Memphis
and Mississippi College School of Law. He has been an active member of
the Mississippi Bar since 1987 and currently engages in private
practice in Brandon. He has practiced law for over
30 years and has extensive courtroom experience as an attorney in
private practice, a prosecutor and a judge. He is a former member of
the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee and is a member and
past president of the Rankin County Bar Association
and the Rankin County Rotary Club. Today, he, his wife Lady, and their
son Chase live in Rankin County and attend Lakeside Presbyterian Church.
