LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed a law on Tuesday banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to rethink its historic Roe v. Wade decision , but opponents promise to block before it takes effect later this year.
The Republican governor had reservations about the bill, which means that the procedure can only save the mother’s life and provides no exceptions for those impregnated during an act of rape or incest. Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where lawmakers have proposed an absolute ban on abortion this year.
Hutchinson said he signed the bill because of “overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-standing pro-life beliefs.”
The bans were enacted by Republicans who want to force the US Supreme Court to rethink its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalizes abortion nationwide. Conservatives believe the court is more open to quashing the decision after former President Donald Trump’s three appointments to the court.
Hutchinson has enacted several major abortion restrictions in law since taking office in 2015, but he had expressed concern that this bill directly challenges Roe and the lack of rape and incest exceptions. He echoed those concerns when he announced his decision.
“(The ban) contradicts binding US Supreme Court precedents, but the intent of the legislation is to pave the way for the Supreme Court to overturn current case law,” he said in a statement from his office. “I would have preferred the legislation to include the rape and incest exceptions, which has been my consistent opinion, and such exceptions would increase the chances of review by the US Supreme Court.”
While lawmakers were considering the measure, Hutchinson shared with lawmakers a letter written by abortion-opponents attorney National Right to Life, stating that the chance the bill would lead to Roe’s destruction was “very slim and small.” . National Right to Life did not take a position on the bill, even though the Arkansas branch backed the ban.
The legislation will only come into effect 90 days after the Republican majority of the legislature adjourns this year’s session. That means it cannot be enforced this summer at the earliest. Abortion rights advocates said they plan to challenge 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, Arkansas ACLU executive director.
“This is political at its worst,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “At a time when people need economic assistance and basic security measures, dismantling access to abortion is cruel, dangerous and downright unjust.”
Hutchinson had until Wednesday afternoon to take action on the bill before it would have become law without his signature, a step that governors have taken to voice their displeasure with a bill without risking a fight with the legislature to the side. is slid. It takes a simple majority for the legislature to override an Arkansas governor’s veto.
Arkansas has some of the strictest abortion measures in the country, and two years ago, Hutchinson signed a law that would ban the procedure if Roe’s decision was overturned. Another measure that Hutchinson signed in 2019 to ban abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy has been shelved due to a legal challenge.
Several other restrictions are still being considered in the legislature, including one approved by the Senate a day earlier that requires a woman who has an abortion to get an ultrasound first.
Another sweeping abortion ban was signed into law by South Carolina governor last month but was quickly blocked by a federal judge for a legal challenge from Planned Parenthood. Alabama issued an almost complete ban on abortion in 2019 that has been blocked due to legal proceedings.