Beebe vetoes 12-week abortion ban bill
By
Lee Hogan
This article was originally published March 4, 2013 at 2:51 p.m. Updated March 4, 2013 at 7:06 p.m.
PHOTO BY AP PHOTO/DANNY JOHNSTON
Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, right, keeps track of a roll call vote on his bill dealing with abortions after 12 weeks during a meeting of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock.
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Gov. Mike Beebe on Monday vetoed a bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of gestation.
Senate Bill 134, sponsored by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, would have banned abortions after 12 weeks if a fetal heartbeat is detected. The bill would require any woman considering abortion after 12 weeks to receive an abdominal ultrasound to determine whether there is a heartbeat.
The bill includes exemptions for rape, incest or medical conditions that would not allow the fetus to live long after birth.
The Arkansas Department of Health shows that 815 abortions, or roughly 20 percent of all abortions, took place in Arkansas in 2011 at or after 12 weeks of gestation. The department shows a total of 4,033 abortions took place in 2011.
Beebe vetoed House Bill 1037 on Feb. 26., which banned most abortions after 20 weeks. The Arkansas House and Senate passed simple majorities last week to override Beebe's veto, making HB1037 state law.
In a letter Monday afternoon, Beebe cited the same reasons for vetoing Senate Bill 134 as he did in vetoing House Bill 1037.
"In short, because it would impose a ban on a woman's right to choose an elective, nontherapeutic abortion well before viability," Beebe wrote. "Senate Bill 134 blatantly contradicts the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court."
Beebe continued that adopting unconstitutional laws would be costly to taxpayers.
"It has been suggested that outside groups might represent the State for free in any litigation challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 134, but even if that were to happen, that would only lessen the State's own litigation costs," Beebe wrote. "Lawsuits challenging unconstitutional laws also result in the losing party, in this case the state, being ordered to pay the costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the litigants who successfully challenge the law. Those costs and fees can be significant."
Beebe cited the last litigation fight in Arkansas over abortion, Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Jegley in 1999, which he stated cost Arkansas around $147,900. Beebe said litigation costs have risen since 1999, and said if Senate Bill 134 becomes law the cost to taxpayers, "will likely be significantly greater."
Read more in Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Comments on: Beebe vetoes 12-week abortion ban bill
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rainbowharold55 says... March 4, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.
And so, another override, and another huge waste of taxpayer money defending this unconstitutional crap. Lower taxes? Smaller government? Doesn't look that way. We need to hire LOTS of lawyers now.
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Nate says... March 4, 2013 at 3:35 p.m.
We can't add two-hundred fifty thousand Arkansans to our Medicaid rolls to insure they get some preventative care but we can ban women women from executing their constitutional right to an abortion! What are these people using for brains or is all about controlling a woman body by what ever means available?
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Concerned_Citizen says... March 4, 2013 at 3:36 p.m.
Where is the bill saying if a man wants to have a vasectomy, we need to stick a probe up his a**?
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edo1962 says... March 4, 2013 at 3:40 p.m.
Do the moral thing. Override it. Beebe doesn't get it.
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ToTheLeft says... March 4, 2013 at 3:41 p.m.
Why do this small-time lawmakers think they can overturn the United States Supreme Court? Harold, you are right. How much money are they wasting? The Republicans are aligning with the Taliban, thinking they can control women's choices and actions. That is WRONG.
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edo1962 says... March 4, 2013 at 3:42 p.m.
Children are not a waste of money.
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GiveUsLiberty says... March 4, 2013 at 3:49 p.m.
Murder is Murder. Life begins at conception. If it didn't, none you you would be here to "second guess" the process.
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Packman says... March 4, 2013 at 3:55 p.m.
Hey Nate - How telling your use of the word "executing" in the same sentence about pro-abortion rights........
Hey Concerned - Mind telling us what part of a vasectomy results in the killing of an unborn child?
Hey Rainbow and ToTheLeft - Ever heard of Plessy v Ferguson? Lots of black folks are glad that particuilar piece of "unconstitutional crap" was overturned by a subsequent SCOTUS.
And is anyone surprised a term-limited liberal would veto a pro-life bill? How else can Beebe stay on John Brummett and Jane Fonda's Christmas card list. Oh, that's right. Those two don't subscribe to Christian beliefs. Beebe must be sucking up to the liberal lunatics for other reasons.
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STEPcoach says... March 4, 2013 at 3:56 p.m.
Well, Beebe strikes again. At least he's consistent - he is clearly in favor of killing babies. Seems like these Democrats would figure out it's just as easy to raise liberals from birth as it is to import them from south of the border. Now he says that if a baby's heart is beating, it STILL isn't alive! Maybe he should check to see if his own heart is working right. OVERRIDE him! and for you whiners who are complaining about the cost of saving the lives of children, how about have a governor that won't go against the will of the majority of the elected politicians so often so we don't have to fight him for decent legislation. He's just so excited about the prospect of a pile of dead babies he forgets his place. OVERRIDE him!!!
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gwen9 says... March 4, 2013 at 3:58 p.m.
Packman,
you are right on the money!! These Liberals just...Don't.....get.....IT!! Amazing how they can twist the subject to justify MURDER!!
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harley1305121514 says... March 4, 2013 at 4:03 p.m.
GiveUsLiberty.....you nailed it! Everyone knows what you said is the truth but a lot of women won't accept it until they come before God and He explains it! Ofcourse it will be too late and those women will pay for their killings!
That is just MY opinion and I am entitled to MY opinion!
Before all of you pro-baby-killing women say anything......YOU are entitled to your opinion AND your act of murder!
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harley1305121514 says... March 4, 2013 at 4:10 p.m.
Packman....good post! I hope Concerned_Citizen answers your question. It should be a doosey!
inquire...you should have some input that will help Concerned answer!
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Jjackk says... March 4, 2013 at 4:28 p.m.
If its all about the life of the fetus and not political then why the exemptions? We must protect the life of the fetus except if the woman was raped? OK but that makes the life not worthy? There is hypocrisy on both sides of this. Roe V Wade decision gave the states the responsibility to regulate abortions.
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NutButter says... March 4, 2013 at 4:37 p.m.
Some people just do not understand state or federal government. They need a refund from wherever they attended school.
The Arkansas state legislature cannot pass a law that will over-ride the federal government and the US Supreme Court.
The state of Arkansas will pay taxpayer dollars in court cases for an indefensible law passed.
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Sarah2789 says... March 4, 2013 at 4:38 p.m.
Federal law trumps state law if there is an override and I know there will be.( Article VI of the Constitution.) The lawyers will get rich, rich women will continue to get D & C's at their will, wink, wink, and again poor women will be left to figure out what to do, what to do...
Re: Stepcoach....Beebe is obeying the Constitution as he is sworn to do.
People unite at the ballot box. Your rights are being taken away. Clean the House!
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HotSpringsLawyer says... March 4, 2013 at 4:39 p.m.
Why two unconstitutional bills? Why not add one for 14 weeks, one for 16, one for 18? Maybe one for 22 in case 20 doesn't hold up?
Why no exception for terrible birth defects or conditions? We can withdraw life support from even an adult, actual human being when they are terminally ill.
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BillSmith says... March 4, 2013 at 4:51 p.m.
Ireland to seek change in abortion law after woman's death.
Ireland too had an exception for the life of the mother, except there was a hartbeat and doctors refused to abort the baby that later died in the womb and the mother died a few days later from blood poisoning and e-coli bacteria.
Ireland is making changes to hteir law while Rapert will have Arkansas like Ireland was. In the dark ages.
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DerbiRider says... March 4, 2013 at 5:04 p.m.
Now that churches are saying that our governments must support unwanted children isn't it time the offering plates make a second pass by state coffers for extraction to pay for the support of those children?
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WTR44 says... March 4, 2013 at 5:16 p.m.
I guess it depends on how a person looks this whether or not they are for, or against it. Is that small glob of flesh with a beating heart in a womans stomach. a baby, or nothing at all, and we have the right to kill it. For those who belive it is nothing, then just when does it become a baby?
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Packman says... March 4, 2013 at 5:20 p.m.
Hey Jjackk -" If its all about the life of the fetus and not political then why the exemptions?" Speaking of hypocrisy and foolish denial, liberals cloak their pro-abortion immorality by the use of sanitized words like "fetus", "zygote", and "biomass" to describe an unborn child. " We must protect the life of the fetus except if the woman was raped? OK but that makes the life not worthy?" This is an excellent question and the answer, while not perfect, is nevertheless distinguishable. Every innocent life is worthy. Rape victims had no say in the act that resulted in pregnancy. That's the distinction that calls for the exemption. Given that distinction, some would argue a woman's right to choose trumps the baby's right to life. And you are entirely correct about the ultimate application of Roe v Wade.
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arkateacher54_aol.com says... March 4, 2013 at 5:41 p.m.
Constitutional right to an abortion?? Which article is that? What a lot of ignorant people there are, as well as barbarians who continually justify the violent murder of the unborn. I have nothing but the utmost contempt for all who support abortion. That would seem to include our good old boy governor.
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JakeTidmore says... March 4, 2013 at 5:47 p.m.
Roe vs Wade got it correct. The words murder & baby are equally being abused by the ultra-right wingers in this debate. It is not easy to discuss this issue with anti-abortion folks when the first thing out of their mouth is to start calling people murderers. This is a propaganda ploy.
We live in a dangerously overcrowded world. Mankind is close to becoming a cancer in its effect on other creatures and this planet. Uncontrolled birth has always been capable of dooming any tribe or people.
I'm of the old school -- life begins at birth. It has been the best standard for humans for many thousands of years.
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Sarah2789 says... March 4, 2013 at 6:26 p.m.
RE: arkateacher54 and your statement of 'ignorant'.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution legalizes abortion via Roe v Wade.
Article VI - Main Article - Supremacy Clause
The Supremacy Clause gives federal law supremacy over states.
Clause two provides that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it and treaties made under its authority, constitute the supreme law of the land. It provides that state courts are bound by the supreme law; in case of conflict between federal and state law, the federal law must be applied. Even state constitutions are subordinate to federal law.
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NoCrossNoCrown says... March 4, 2013 at 7:22 p.m.
Had to share the same plane with this idiot Raper the other day. This pompus jackass really thinks he has the right to force his morality on everybody in the state. What a jerk!
I only wish the cost of the state defending this and all the other bills this AH and the AH that follow his lead have put forth, came out of their own pockets and not out of our tax money. This session of the ledge has been one great big waste of time and money.
Now it is about to cost us even more money and will be struck down, If not on the state level, on the federal level.
If they spent half as much time working on jobs bills as they spend peering into the private lives of the citizens, and the decissions they should only be making with their family and doctor, maybe Arkansas could be a role model, instead of a laughing stock......
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harley1305121514 says... March 4, 2013 at 7:37 p.m.
JakeTidmore.....if you have a concern about the over crowding of this planet then you and any others that feel that way should EXIT this planet by killing yourselves! Let innocent babies live and those that would kill them for over crowding reasons, kill yourselves and it would be a balance!
The babies may grow up to be great people that honor the right to live. Then the world would be a much better place for everyone.
It's easy as can be to say kill the babies as opposed to you and others saying kill me. You people want the right to live but want to take that opportunity away from babies.
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djigoo says... March 4, 2013 at 8:17 p.m.
Anyone who believes that Neanderthals died out centuries ago need merely look at the Arkansas Ledge for refutation.
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mkm157 says... March 4, 2013 at 9:42 p.m.
Raper and the Repubicans do it again. They think that God is calling them to enact unconstitutional laws to impose religious views on people that may or may not agree with their small minded attempt to make us a theocracy. I wish there were some way to make Raper Mayberry and the other Repubican idiots pay for the cost of the litigation out of their own pockets.
I guarantee you that not one of the pro life people posting here would ever even THINK about adopting a baby to help fix the problem.
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chiefmom says... March 4, 2013 at 10:18 p.m.
May God have mercy on our current governor and those who share his belief that the innocent shall have no voice and shall be , in their view, condemned to death
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BillSmith says... March 5, 2013 at 1:41 a.m.
gwen9, cheifmom,, How about the heartbeats of the mother and the baby in her womb, in Ireland. You want to be the one who makes the decision on who dies when the women was miscarring. That's to far to the right for me to ever accept. It was her and her husbands decision alone period. Can you for one minute being a woman put yourself in that women's place? She wanted to live to have more babies, you idiots.
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Populist says... March 5, 2013 at 6:11 a.m.
Now, I know that I am going to make both sides mad. Twelve weeks is too early to ban abortion. While I believe that it is immoral to terminate a pregnancy of a healthy fetus which is this far along, I don't think it should be illegal at this stage. Yes, there should be a right to privacy under the Constitution. This law will not pass constitutional muster. Twenty weeks is a different story. The pregnancy is too far along and the rights of the baby start to outweigh the rights of the mother.
Some of those who are so adamant about the right to life are conspicuously absent when it comes to protecting the interests of young children. It does not mean much for the state to guarantee you a right to life and then do nothing to protect the quality of that life. Some of the conservatives on this post are against any spending to stop child abuse or to give a child meaningful education. It's always, "It's up to the parents."
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JakeTidmore says... March 5, 2013 at 8:16 a.m.
Harley the Hypocrite (AKA Jim Smut): Put your can of gasoline-soaked anger away. Your type of hate-filled christianity belongs in the dark ages.
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Packman says... March 5, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
Hey Jake - It sure sounds like you are advocating abortion as a means of population control. Is that true? This is not a trick question but your answer will speak directly to your moral turpitude. Do you favor China's views on population controls? And Harley's correct. If you really and sincerely think there are too many people on the planet there is one sure thing you can do to prove you are not a hypocrite. Unless your preferred solution applies to everyone but you......
Hey Sarah - The Supremacy Clause has nothing to do with abortion on demand. It's little more than a red herring pro-abortionists like to raise when it is pointed out the words "right to abortion" appear nowhere in the constitution. The doctrine of seperate but equal was "constitutional" before it wasn't, for example.
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Osage says... March 5, 2013 at 12:27 p.m.
I understand that the law of the land is Roe vs. Wade, thank God I don't have to decide such things, because I am not wise enough. Total waste of time and money by lawmakers. The price for extreme liberalism in Washington is extreme stupidity in Arkansas.
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BillSmith says... March 5, 2013 at 12:33 p.m.
It's plain to see that none of you right wingers want to comment on the situation that occured in Ireland, which could happen in Arkansas if this bill becomes law. But to you absolutist who don't believe in a gray area that could very well happen to your wife or daughter. This would put doctor's in a terriable position in a case like this.
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considerthis says... March 5, 2013 at 4:41 p.m.
edo1962, gwen9, etc., yes, you just don't get it. Why should YOU have more say over what may be going-on in the body of someone else, than the person whose body it is? What kind of precedent is THAT? You may say, "Well, a person's body actually belongs to God", which may be true, but not everyone believes that, and we are NOT a theocracy. Thank God! How ironic, its often those who think like you, that also speak of how they would never want the government to have the right to intrude into YOUR body by putting a microchip in YOU, and that in doing THAT would be a 'sign' of the 'Anti-Christ', etc., etc. But that is EXACTLY the type of precedent you are setting by allowing YOU or the government to have more say over the body of someone else. After all, why stop at mandating for someone else that they can't have an abortion???? What can we think to do NEXT with the body of someone else?? Maybe even YOURS! If you don't believe in having an abortion, DON'T HAVE ONE! But DON'T mandate the same for OTHERS! Learn where YOUR jurisdiction ENDS!
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JakeTidmore says... March 5, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.
As to Harley's "logic" about committing suicide to prove a point: ridiculous. Gonna die anyway. Had only one child and see nothing wrong with encouraging folks to limit the number of children they have. So, I have practiced what I preach and no need to bow to peurile reasoning from such as Harley.
(I have read Jim's older comments and based on them have come to the realization that his responses are more Pavlovian in nature than analytical.)
China's one-child policy is a mixed bag in application but overall the results for the population as a whole has been better economics for people, better child care, and better maternal care. One of the offshoots of their policy has been the penchant Chinese have for saving their money which is why our country is so deeply in debt to them. Interesting side note, for sure.
Another difference between America and China is our view of planning. They take a much longer view than we do. And guess which nation has grown in overall power over the past 4 decades -- China.
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harley1305121514 says... March 5, 2013 at 6:50 p.m.
Hey Jake...sure you are gonna die anyways but if you speed up the process by blowing your br...oop's you don't have any brains so let's go with you cutting your throat and give whatever amount of time you had left to one baby not being aborted! See, YOU Jake are the HYPOCRITE!! Easy for you to say "kill babies the world is too crowded" and you are just enough chicken sh-- to not sacrifice your own life to prevent your having concerns of over crowding! Your way of thinking on population and comparing China and the United States makes me wonder....Why don't you move to China where you would fit in perfectly?
Me a hypocrite? You don't hear me saying there is any place in the world better than right here in the US. I, unlike you, am a true American Patriot and defend the rights of others whether I believe they are morally right or not! Even for dumb butts like you and all the baby killers! So Jake the Jerk...back at you!
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