Editor’s Note: Each year, the Times Record newsroom staff votes on the Top 10 local stories of the year. Arkansas Legislature action on state abortion laws ranks as the No. 9 story of 2013.
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas made national headlines this year when the state Legislature enacted one of the toughest restrictions on abortion in the country, although a federal judge has blocked implementation of the law while opponents challenge it in court.
The Legislature, controlled by Republican majorities in the House and Senate for the first time since the end of the Civil War, approved two highly controversial abortion bills during this year’s session, overriding vetoes by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who said the measures were unconstitutional.
One of the new laws bans most abortions 12 weeks or later into a pregnancy and the other bans most abortions at 20 weeks.
The first of the measures to become law was the 20-week ban. Act 171 by Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, also known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, asserts that a fetus typically can feel pain at 20 weeks and prohibits abortions at that stage of pregnancy.
The law includes exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest and for abortions performed to save the life of the mother or protect her from substantial and irreversible physical impairment.
The legislation received bipartisan support, passing 75-20 in the House and 26-7 in the Senate. After Beebe vetoed it, the House overrode his veto in a 53-28 vote and the Senate voted 19-14 for an override. The measure included an emergency clause that caused it to go into effect immediately after the final override vote on Feb. 28.
Act 301 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, also known as the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act, requires a woman seeking an abortion at 12 weeks or later into a pregnancy to undergo an abdominal ultrasound to check for a heartbeat, and if a heartbeat is detected the law prohibits the abortion.
The law includes exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, for abortions performed to save the life of the mother or protect her from substantial and irreversible physical impairment, and for fetal disorders that makes it highly unlikely the child would survive after birth. A doctor convicted of violating the law would lose his or her medical license.
The legislation passed 26-8 in the Senate and 68-20 in the House. The chambers overrode Beebe’s vetoes with votes of 20-14 in the Senate and 56-33 in the House.
After the final override vote on March 6, the measure became, for a brief time, the most restrictive abortion law on the books in any state. Twenty days later, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law a more a restrictive measure that bans abortions in that state at any stage of pregnancy if a heartbeat is detected, which can happen at six weeks.
Arkansas’ 12-week ban would have taken effect Aug. 16, but on May 17 U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright granted an injunction blocking its implementation while the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights challenge it in court.
North Dakota’s heartbeat bill also has been blocked from taking effect because of a court challenge.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Act 301 in Arkansas say the law conflicts with established case law. The U.S. Supreme Court has said states cannot ban abortion before a fetus becomes viable, or able to survive outside the womb, which doctors say occurs 23 or 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the Constitution protects a woman’s ability to make her own decision about an abortion, but our state Legislature ignored the law and voted to take a woman’s decision-making ability away,” Rita Sklar, executive director of the Arkansas ACLU, said in April.
Supporters of the law say that challenging existing case law on abortion is a worthwhile effort.
“Sure, (Act 301) challenges the status quo,” Jerry Cox, president of the Christian conservative Family Council, said in April. “But that’s how things get changed.”
Arkansas’ 20-week ban so far has not faced a court challenge. ACLU lawyer Bettina Brownstein said last week she was not aware of any abortions that had been prevented by the law, noting that most abortions are performed before 20 weeks of gestation.
“We’re ready to challenge it if it becomes an issue for someone,” she said.
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