Bill that would make almost all abortions in Arkansas illegal moves to Senate
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Little Rock, Arkansas (KFSM) — A bill that would make almost all abortions illegal in Arkansas passed through a Senate committee Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will make its way to the Senate floor next week.
Senate Bill 6 is the “Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act to Abolish Abortion in Arkansas.”
“Abortion, as you will read in SB6, is a crime against humanity in which over 62 million innocent babies have been killed in our nation and we believe it’s important now at this moment to take a stand, in fact, it’s past time,” Senator Jason Rapert said.
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Senator Rapert is the sponsor of the bill. A similar bill was signed into law in 2019, called the “Abortion Trigger Bill.” He says this new bill creates a challenge directly to Roe v. Wade.
“The difference is by language in the bill, we are now saying we immediately abolish all abortion in our state except to save the life of the mother,” he said.
You currently can only get an abortion in Arkansas up until 20 weeks of pregnancy with a few exceptions.
Fayetteville Senator Greg Leding says he will be voting against the bill.
“We just think it’s the wrong thing to do here in Arkansas, no matter what your opinion might be on this issue might be,” Leding said. “This is a choice that needs to be made by women and it is a choice that will be made by women regardless of whatever happens with particular bill.”
The Planned Parenthood clinic in Little Rock is one of the few places in the state carrying out abortions.
Gloria Pedro with Planned Parenthood Great Plains says they are opposed to this bill. She says it’s another piece of unconstitutional legislation that’s attempting to prevent access to safe legal abortion in Arkansas.
“It’s wasting time and taxpayer money with a publicity stunt,” she said. “SB6 is basically a demand letter to the Supreme Court and the courts are separate from the legislature for a reason. This is the equivalent of a demand letter and that’s not how any of this works.”
Senate Bill 6 will be heard before the entire Arkansas Senate next week. The session was canceled for Thursday (Feb. 11) because of the weather.
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