Arkansas ACLU: 12-week Abortion Bill Would be Most Severe in the Nation

LITTLE ROCK, AR - The topic of abortion takes center stage today in the Arkansas Legislature.

The Arkansas Senate today voted 19-14 to override Governor Mike Beebe's veto, putting a 20-week abortion ban bill on the state's law books.

But that's not all, the Senate also voted to pass a bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, which means that the bill will now go to Governor Mike Beebe.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas says its hopeful that Beebe will veto the 12-week measure, as he did with the 20-week bill that became law today.

The Arkansas ACLU says if enacted, the 12-week ban would be the most severe such law in the country.
 
"This bill shows an absolute disregard for the health of the women of Arkansas,” Rita Sklar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said. "We urge Gov. Beebe to spare our state the indignity of passing the strictest such ban in the country and veto this bill.”

“Lawmakers in Arkansas are placing women’s lives on the line by passing the most severe ban on access to safe, legal medical care this country has seen in recent years,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Nobody can predict what kinds of decisions a woman may have to make during a pregnancy, and it is outrageous for politicians to attempt to interfere in this serious and personal decision that a woman has to make with her family and her doctor.”