Pro-Life Victory! New Arkansas Bill Bans Most Abortions in the State

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark Roe v. Wade decision but opponents vow to block before it takes effect later this year.

The Republican governor had expressed reservations about the bill, which only allows the procedure to save the life of the mother and does not provide exceptions for those impregnated in an act of rape or incest. Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where legislators have proposed outright abortion bans this year.

Hutchinson said he was signing the bill because of its “overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-held pro-life convictions.”

The bans were pushed by Republicans who want to force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. Conservatives believe the court is more open to striking down the decision following former President Donald Trump’s three appointments to the court.

“We must abolish abortion in this nation just as we abolished slavery in the 19th century – all lives matter,” Republican Sen. Jason Rapert, the bill’s sponsor said in a statement.

Hutchinson has signed several major abortion restrictions into law since taking office in 2015, but he had voiced concerns that this bill directly challenges Roe and about the lack of rape and incest exceptions. He repeated those concerns as he announced his decision.

“(The ban) is in contradiction of binding precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the Supreme Court overturning current case law,” he said in a statement released by his office. “I would have preferred the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which has been my consistent view, and such exceptions would increase the chances for a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

As the Legislature considered the measure, Hutchinson shared with lawmakers a letter written by an attorney for abortion opponents National Right to Life that said the chances of the bill leading to Roe being overturned were “very small and remote.” National Right to Life didn’t take a position on the bill, though its Arkansas affiliate supported the ban.

Breitbart has more on reaction to the new law:

Planned Parenthood Great Plains tweeted in response the new law “goes against what the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld: Every person has a constitutionally protected right to access abortion care, including from trusted medical providers here in Arkansas.”

Arkansas Sen. Jason Rapert (R), the bill’s sponsor, responded to a tweet by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that said, “We’re suing.”

“Isn’t it chilling?” he wrote. “When states stand up to save lives, these bloodthirsty groups declare they are suing to ensure that killing through abortion continues. I cannot trust any group that devalues human lives like the @ACLU.”

Rapert thanked Hutchinson for “standing with the Arkansas legislature and the people of the state” against abortion which, he said, is a “crime against humanity.”

Arkansas is one of more than a dozen states that have introduced legislation that, through challenges by stakeholders in the abortion industry, could lead to a review of Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court.