( CNN ) -- Mississippi 's governor has signed into law a bill requiring physicians performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and to have admitting privileges at an area hospital . `` I believe that all human life is precious , and as governor , I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and unborn are protected in Mississippi , '' Gov . Phil Bryant said in a statement Monday . He has previously expressed his desire that the state become `` abortion free . '' Seven other states require abortion providers to have hospital privileges , but no other state requires that an abortion provider be an OB/GYN , said Elizabeth Nash , state issues manager for the Guttmacher Institute in Washington . Though the 1973 Supreme Court landmark decision in Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in all 50 states , Mississippi 's law could make the state the first where no abortions could be performed , she said . `` It 's an attempt to eliminate access without taking on Roe directly . '' Mississippi has only one abortion facility , Jackson Women 's Health Organization . Should it close , Mississippi women seeking abortions would have to leave the state . The clinic 's owner , Diane Derzis , said in a telephone interview this month that all her doctors are obstetrician-gynecologists , but only one has admitting privileges at an area hospital . She vowed to fight to remain open . `` We are going to do everything we can to remain there ... we are not going to let the women of Mississippi down , '' said Derzis . But Lt. Gov . Tate Reeves previously said that the bill `` should effectively close the only abortion clinic in Mississippi . '' The bill `` puts in place requirements that intentionally try to make it impossible for physicians to provide abortion services , '' Felicia Brown-Williams , regional director of public policy for Planned Parenthood in Hattiesburg , Mississippi , said in early April . There is no medical reason to require physicians performing abortions be board-certified OB/GYNs or that they have admitting privileges , she said . If the clinic stops offering abortion services because it is unable to find providers with those qualifications , the bill `` would be a backdoor ban on abortion . '' The Center for Reproductive Rights ' state advocacy counsel , Jordan Goldberg , said that , if the goal of the legislation is to impose restrictions on abortion providers that are not imposed on other medical providers offering similar care , then `` that would raise serious constitutional problems and a legal challenge would certainly be possible . '' `` It 's not about medicine , '' she said . `` It 's just about politics . '' Last year , the state introduced a bill known as the Personhood Amendment , which would have defined life as beginning at the moment of conception . The bill was defeated by voters in November . In 2008 , the last year for which data are available , 2,770 abortions were performed in the state , according to Guttmacher . CNN 's Joe Sutton and Tom Watkins contributed to this report .
The bill could force the state 's lone abortion clinic to close . No other state requires an abortion provider to be an OB/GYN . Governor : `` '' I believe that all human life is precious '' The law could make the state the first where no abortions can be performed .