LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas is appealing a federal judge's order blocking the state from enforcing four new abortion restrictions, including a ban on a common second-trimester procedure.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Friday filed a notice that she was appealing U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker's preliminary injunction last month halting the new abortion laws. The four restrictions were enacted earlier this year and three of them were set to take effect on Aug. 1.
The laws include a ban on a procedure known as dilation and evacuation. Abortion-rights supporters contend it's the safest and most common procedure used in second-trimester abortions.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued Arkansas over the restrictions.