LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas’ government, Asa Hutchinson, on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning almost all abortions in the state, a comprehensive measure that supporters hope the U.S. Supreme Court will force Roe v. Wade to revisit, but opponents promise to stop before it takes effect later this year.
The Republican governor has expressed reservations about the bill, which only allows the procedure to save the life of the mother and does not offer exceptions for those impregnated by a rape or incest. Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where lawmakers have proposed a total abortion ban this year.
Hutchinson said he signed the bill because of the “overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-standing beliefs in life.”
The ban was pushed by Republicans which wants to force the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 1973 decision on Roe v. Wade to reconsider legalizing abortions nationwide. Conservatives believe the court is more open to making the decision after former President Donald Trump’s three appointments to court.
Hutchinson has signed several major abortion restrictions since taking office in 2015, but he has expressed concern that this bill directly challenges Roe and over the lack of rape and exceptions to incest. He reiterated the concern when announcing his decision.
“(The ban) is contrary to the binding precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is the intent of the legislation to establish the scene for the Supreme Court to overturn the current case law,” he said in a statement. office announced. “I would prefer the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which was my firm opinion, and such exceptions would increase the chances of review by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
As the legislature considered the measure, Hutchinson shared a letter written by the lawyer for the National Right to Life abortion opponents, saying that the chances of the bill leading to Roe being overthrown were ‘very small and remote’. ‘is. National Right to Life has not taken a stand on the bill, although its Arkansas subsidiary supports the ban.
The legislation only comes into force 90 days after the majority Republican Legislature 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 Arkansas.
“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, disrupting abortion access is cruel, dangerous and blatantly unfair.”
Hutchinson had until Wednesday afternoon to act on the bill before it would become law without his signature, a move that made the governors to express dissatisfaction with a bill without risking a dominant battle with the legislature . The law requires a simple majority to override the Arkansas governor’s veto.
Arkansas has some of the strictest abortion measures in the country 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 underway 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 an 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 issued an almost total ban on abortions in 2019 that was blocked due to court challenges.