Arkansas Enacts Near-Full Abortion Ban With No Exceptions For Rape Or Incest

Arkansas bill SB6 is the newest in a conservative wave of abortion restrictions and bans. The bill prohibits any abortion “except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency,” and leaves no exceptions for cases of rape, fetal abnormality or incest. People found violating the law can be fined up to $100,000 and serve up to 10 years in prison. SB6 has formally passed in the Arkansas House and Senate and could be enforced as soon as September of this year.

“I will sign SB6 because of overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-held pro-life convictions,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said in a statement. “SB6 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.”

SB6 is the opening volley in a new abortion battle that will likely go nationwide. The ACLU, the ACLU of Arkansas, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Great Plains vow to fight back against the Arkansas bill, citing that it is in contradiction to the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

“This is politics at its very worst,“ Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement soon after SB6 passed. “At a time when people need economic relief and basic safety precautions, dismantling abortion access is cruel, dangerous and blatantly unjust.”

“The Supreme Court has about 20 bills in front of them that they could take up if they wanted to,” Gloria Pedro, regional manager of public policy and organizing for Arkansas and Oklahoma at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, said in a statement Tuesday. “So writing a bill that’s the equivalent of a demand letter to SCOTUS, it’s just impractical and a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”

The draconian slashing of reproductive rights in Arkansas did not start with this bill, and it likely will not end with SB6 either.

State Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Arkansas) took pride in the bill’s most  restrictions. “How could we look at any human baby and say that they are not worthy of life simply because their birth was a result of a violent act,” said Rapert.