A new law in the state of Arkansas will now ban one of the safest and most known abortion procedures and would allow members of the pregnant woman’s family to prevent an abortion “by suing the abortion provider,” The Daily Beast reports.
The bill, called Arkansas Act 45, was signed into action by Governor Asa Hutchinson. The law bans dilation and evacuation abortions, “the most common abortion procedure during the second trimester of pregnancy.” It would also block abortions for pregnancies that are past 14 weeks.
Arkansas’ new law basically allows anyone involved with the pregnant woman, family and lover, to block the abortion and sue the abortion provider.
Since the law does not include an exception for rape or incest, women’s activists posit that this could decision power and voice to the father of a pregnancy born through sexual assault or abuse, The Daily Beast reports.
Laura McQuade, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, told The Daily Beast, “The D&E method is the most common method of second-trimester abortion in the United States and in the world. It is the method endorsed by the World Health Organization, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Medical Association.”
McQuade added, “What that’s getting at, really, is the autonomy and decision-making ability of a woman. The law itself is a major overstep into the doctor-patient relationship. This is taking it one step further to say that woman are incapable of making these decisions on their own and on their own behalf.”
Dilation and evacuation procedure uses surgical instruments to remove any matter from the womb. The procedure is also used when a miscarriage happens, to remove any remaining fetal tissue inside.
Senator David Sanders, one of the sponsors of the bill, said, “You see a baby, an unborn life, a fetus, engaging in fight or flight reaction to the forceps going into the womb, trying to remove an arm, remove a leg.”
Karen Musick, co-founder of Arkansas Abortion Support Network, told The Daily Beast, “There is zero part of me that understands why a rapist or someone who got someone pregnant against their will, maybe incest, would have any right in that decision.”
Musick continued, “I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that there would be anyone who thinks otherwise.”
Will Bond, a Democratic state senator from Little rock, said, “There is an injunctive relief section in the bill that, in my reading of it, would seem to allow litigation among family members. If one spouse sought injunctive relief to prevent a certain procedure, or possibly other family members have the possibility for injunctive relief, that was a concern of mine.”
Bond continued, “There is an exception for women’s health in the bill, but it required irreparable harm [to the point of] permanent disability of a woman. The way it was drafted, I had concerns that the women’s health exception is way too narrow, and there’s no exception for rape and incest.”
They are now saying that banning the most common abortion procedure would be the same as banning any kind of abortion after the first trimester.
McQuade said, “How it used to happen decades in the past was that a woman was induced to deliver. We do not want to get to that point. That it is not as safe for the patient.”
Women who live in Arkansas and seeking abortion procedure would take more than two days before they could actually set up an appointment for the procedure. The state only has one dilation and evacuation clinic. Another law says that it’s mandatory for women to wait for 48 hours before a procedure.
Musick said, “Normally it’s going to be a week later. Every week that goes past in an abortion makes the procedure more expensive and it makes it riskier. The earlier an abortion is performed, the safer it is.”
The new Arkansas law is expected to begin its effect in spring. Holly Dickson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said, “It’s been challenged in those first four and been enjoined in every state where there’s been a challenge.” She’s referring to Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
Dickson said, “The ACLU has been open in our intent to challenge this if necessary. I’m sure that’s what we’ll do this time around. Again.”
