Arkansas legislators have overridden a veto by the governor in order
to prohibit most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, the earliest ban
of any state in the country.
“I feel grateful that people recognize that the abortion policy of this
nation has not made abortions rare,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jason
Rapert, in a statement.
“In Arkansas, we have now recognized the need
for a more balanced policy, and Roe v. Wade has allowed us this option.”
“I am so proud of my fellow legislators for standing up and protecting
the lives of unborn children,” he continued. “When there is a heartbeat,
there is life.”
The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act bans nearly all abortions
after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The so-called “heartbeat bill” is named
after its supporters’ argument that unborn babies deserve legal
protection once a heartbeat can be identified on an abdominal
ultrasound.
The new law – which will go into effect this summer – prohibits
abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, except in cases of rape,
incest and when the mother’s life is endangered.
State legislatures enacted the bill by overturning the veto of Arkansas
governor Mike Beebe with a 56-33 vote in the state House of
Representatives and a 20-14 vote in the state Senate.
The passage of the law comes within a week of the Arkansas legislature’s
approval of another pro-life bill banning abortion after 20 weeks, the
point at which scientific evidence indicates that the unborn can feel
pain. That bill was also vetoed by the governor, and the veto was
likewise overridden by the legislature, going immediately into effect.
Governor Beebe, who has supported some other laws limiting abortion in
the past, cited concerns over the laws’ constitutionality as his primary
reason for vetoing the fetal heartbeat bill. Planned Parenthood and
other abortion advocacy groups have pledged to fight the legislation.
Pro-life organizations are concerned about the effects of a lawsuit
challenging the new law.
Patrick Gallaher, executive director of
Catholic Charities of Arkansas and a lobbyist for the Diocese of Little
Rock, warned that the law may be politically and financially risky.
“If the state were to lose it would be very costly and may actually wind
up bankrolling pro-abortion well into the future,” Gallaher said to the
Arkansas Catholic newspaper in Little Rock.
Similar concerns were echoed by Rose Mimms, executive director of
Arkansas Right to Life, which neither officially supported nor opposed
the bill.
“We are incrementalists. That's our strategy,” Mimms told the Associated
Press. “We try to make inroads where we can. We would love for the
heartbeat to be able to be held constitutional.”
Going forward, the Republican legislature intends to use their momentum
to continue fighting abortion within the state. Sen. Rapert is hoping to
cut public funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that
provide abortion.
“I'm glad for them to do education and do those sorts of things, but I
do not like them utilizing funds, indirectly even, to support their
efforts with abortion in our state,” Rapert said, according to the
Associated Press.