Arkansas’ Act 45, also known as “The Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act,” was signed last week by (male) Governor Asa Hutchinson.
This new law could allow the parents and/or the baby daddies of the women seeking abortions to sue the abortion provider for civil damages. What’s even more disturbing about this law is that it makes no exception for cases of rape or incest.
Additionally, New York magazine reports that this act prohibits dilation and evacuation, a practice commonly used in most second trimester abortions. Thus, it effectively makes abortion illegal after the 14-week mark.
Thankfully, abortion activists in Arkansas promised to fight this law in court before it goes into effect.
“The law puts an undue burden on a woman’s constitutional right to obtain a second-trimester abortion, and I think the legislature knows it and doesn’t care,” Rita Sklar, an attorney for the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, told Reuters.
Here’s hoping this act ends up being a flop. But considering conservative Republicans have the supermajority in Arkansas’ state legislature, this might be a tough battle.
Top Image via Flickr/scATX
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