The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has blocked an Arkansas law that bans abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The case was filed by two doctors on their own and their patients' behalf.
The court's ruling notes:
"By banning abortions after 12 weeks' gestation, the Act prohibits women from making the ultimate decision to terminate a pregnancy at a point before viability. Because the State made no attempt to refute the plaintiffs' assertions of fact, the district court's summary judgment order must be affirmed."
The Arkansas legislature approved the strict law back in 2013 — and then voted to override a veto by then-Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat. The state's governor is now Asa Hutchinson.
"The bill, whose main sponsor is Sen. Jason Rapert, would require anyone who provides abortions in Arkansas to "perform an abdominal ultrasound test necessary to detect a heartbeat of an unborn human individual according to standard medical practice." "If a heartbeat is detected and the pregnancy is at 12 weeks or greater, an abortion would be forbidden. Exceptions are provided for cases of medical emergency, rape, and other situations."
In recent weeks, Arkansas lawmakers have endorsed banning most abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and approved a bill that doubles the waiting period a woman must wait before undergoing an abortion, to two days.
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