LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation banning nearly all abortions, sending the bill to a Republican governor who has expressed reservations about the move.
The majority Republican House voted 75-18 in favor of the bill, banning all abortions except those to save the mother’s life in a medical emergency. The bill passed by the Senate last month, contains no exceptions for rape or incest.
Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where an outright abortion ban has been proposed this year, an attempt by conservative Republicans to force the U.S. Supreme Court its Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973, which legalized the procedure nationwide, to reconsider.
“It is time for this decision to be overturned by the Supreme Court,” Republican Representative Mary Bentley, a sponsor of the measure, told members of the House.
Another sweeping abortion ban was signed into law by the Governor of South Carolina last month, but was quickly blocked by a federal judge due to a legal challenge from Planned Parenthood. Alabama enacted a near-complete ban on abortions in 2019 that has been blocked due to legal proceedings.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who has approved several major abortion restrictions since taking office in 2015, did not say whether he would sign this bill and told reporters he would make a decision next week.
“It’s pro-life legislation and I support pro-life legislation,” Hutchinson said shortly before the House vote. The governor has five days, not including Sunday, after the bill is handed over to him to take action before it becomes law without his signature.
The governor previously said he is concerned about the ban, excluding rape and incest exceptions, and the immediate challenge to Roe vs. Wade. A National Right to Life attorney told Hutchinson in a letter that the likelihood that the legislation would lead to the destruction of Roe vs. Wade was “very small and small”.
National Right to Life has not taken a position on the bill, although its state affiliate and other Arkansas anti-abortion groups have backed the measure.
Democrats called the measure extreme, saying such an outright ban would result in women taking dangerous steps to end their pregnancies.
“We don’t need to do any collateral harm to women in this state to advance a political cause,” said the Democratic Rep. Ashley Hudson.
Arkansas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, and two years ago Hutchinson signed a bill that would trigger an abortion ban if the Roe decision were overturned. Another law Hutchinson signed in 2019 banning abortion 18 weeks after a woman’s pregnancy has been suspended due to legal action.
Abortion rights groups have said they are willing to outright challenge it if passed. Planned Parenthood called the bill the “equivalent of a summons” to the Supreme Court.
“This abortion ban is clearly unconstitutional and we are ready to challenge it and any attempt to block Arkansans from care or dictate their personal medical decisions,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said in a statement. “We will see the state of Arkansas in court again.”