WASHINGTON - Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a measure (HB 1032) into law yesterday which bans the most common method of ending a pregnancy in the second trimester.

Said Amanda Allen, Senior State Legislative Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights:

“It’s simply shameful that politicians in Arkansas spent valuable time and resources on fast tracking a cruel and unconstitutional ban on a safe method of ending a pregnancy in the second trimester. When challenged in court, these bans do not pass constitutional muster, yet politicians continue to advance them to prove their anti-abortion bona fides—at the expense of women and their health.”

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HB 1032 is expected to take effect in August 2017.

Bans of this nature face strong opposition. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) vetoed a similar measure last year while similar laws in Louisiana, Kansas and Oklahoma have not taken effect due to challenges brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The ACLU has also successfully blocked a similar ban in Alabama.

Additionally, major medical groups oppose these types of bans. In an amicus brief opposing the Kansas measure, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) stated that the ban “raises serious safety and health concerns for women as well as intrudes unnecessarily into the patient-physician relationship.”

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