Arkansas has passed a new law banning almost all abortions in the state, a comprehensive measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Roe v Wade, but opponents promise to reverse before it takes effect later this year.
The state Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he signed the bill because of the “overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-standing beliefs.”
Hutchinson has signed several major abortion restrictions since taking office in 2015, but he has expressed concern about the bill, which only allows the procedure to save the mother’s life and offers no exceptions for those involved in an act of rape or incest. He reiterated the concern when announcing his decision.
“(The ban) violates the binding precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is the intent of the law to establish the scene for the Supreme Court that undoes the current case law,” he said in a statement. announced his office. “I would prefer that the legislation include the exceptions to rape and incest, which was my firm position, and such exceptions would increase the chances of review by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where lawmakers have proposed a total abortion ban this year.
The ban was pushed by Republicans who want to force the Supreme Court to revisit its 1973 decision on Roe v Wade, which legalizes abortions nationwide. Conservatives believe the court is more open to dismissing the decision after Donald Trump’s three appointments to court.
Arkansas’ legislation only comes into force 90 days after the majority Republican lawmaker adjourned this year’s session. This means that it can only be applied to this summer. Supporters of abortion rights have said they plan to face the ban in court before then.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas called the ban “cruel and unconstitutional.”
“Governor Hutchinson: We’ll see you in court,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the Arkansas ACLU.
“This is the worst politics,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “At a time when people need economic relief and basic security measures, dismantling abortion access is cruel, dangerous and blatantly unfair.”
Arkansas has some of the strictest abortion measures in the US and two years ago Hutchinson signed a measure that would ban the procedure if Roe’s decision was overturned. Another measure Hutchinson signed in 2019 to ban abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy is pending due to a legal challenge.
Several other restrictions are still being considered in the legislature, including one approved by the Senate a day earlier, which requires a woman who has an abortion to first show ultrasound.
Another comprehensive abortion ban was signed by the governor of South Carolina last month, but was quickly blocked by a federal judge due to a legal challenge by Planned Parenthood. Alabama introduced a near-total ban on abortions blocked in 2019 due to court challenges.