Abortion isn’t going anywhere in Arkansas.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that she would temporarily, and for the second time, block three Arkansas laws from being enforced. These laws, if enacted, would likely force the state’s only abortion clinic to close. The judge’s decision comes as a slew of clinics are closing because they fail to meet the state’s health safety standards, and as many states are passing laws restricting abortion.
Judge Kristine Baker, an Obama appointee, said the 14-day temporary injunction delaying enforcement of the state laws would give her more time to consider a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed with the Little Rock Family Planning Services and Planned Parenthood against Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.
“Since the record at this stage of the proceedings indicates that women seeking abortions in Arkansas face an imminent threat to their constitutional rights, the court concludes that they will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief,” Baker wrote in the ruling.
All three laws the judge blocked are abortion-related. One prohibits abortions for women who are 18 weeks pregnant or want an abortion because their baby has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Another requires the doctors performing abortions to be board-certified in OB/GYN. Not all of the Little Rock Family Planning Services doctors are board-certified, and it is the only clinic in Arkansas that performs medication-induced abortions.
In 2018, the Arkansas Board of Health found that several clinics, including Little Rock, had “violated a law barring them from collecting money from a patient seeking an abortion during a 48-hour ‘reflection period’ before the procedure.”
The clinic was not fined.
“Following the court’s adverse ruling, the Attorney General immediately filed an appeal to the Eighth Circuit,” Amanda Priest, Rutledge’s communications director, told CNN in a statement.
“She continues to defend Arkansas law protecting women’s health by requiring a board certified or eligible OBGYN to perform an abortion, as well as Arkansas laws that (protect) unborn life by prohibiting abortions after 18 weeks and at any time if based on a Down Syndrome diagnosis.”
As more states try to regulate abortion in accordance with their constituents’ pro-life views, these laws will be challenged by activist judges and, hopefully, ultimately challenge Supreme Court precedent. What is fascinating to observe, as this process takes place, is just how many judges will preserve the right to an abortion even when it means blocking a law ensuring health and safety standards are followed.
So much for “pro-women,” I suppose.
