Three bills related to abortion and other reproduction matters were filed by the end of the first week of the state's regular legislative session, but there are more to come, some lawmakers said.
Tuesday marks the annual anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Jan. 22, 1973, U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.
Two bills, both filed in November by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, have been referred to the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.
The regular session started Monday.
Senate Bill 2 would make it illegal for a woman to get an abortion because the unborn child has or may have Down syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes developmental challenges and abnormal physical features.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
Senate Bill 3 would add reporting requirements for doctors and health care facilities when a patient has complications from an abortion.
House Bill 1164 by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Clarksville, would allow pharmacists to dispense oral contraceptives without a prescription -- a move Pilkington said would reduce the number of abortions in the state.
GARNER'S BILLS
SB2 would require a doctor to ask a woman seeking an abortion if she is aware of any test results, prenatal diagnosis or any other reason that the unborn child may have Down syndrome. If the woman answers yes, the doctor must request the medical records relating directly to her entire pregnancy history.
A doctor who attempts or goes ahead with the abortion would have his medical license revoked and would be guilty of a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to six years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Garner said he was prompted to file the legislation after hearing a story that Iceland had eliminated Down syndrome.
"It was due to an extremely high abortion rate of unborn children with Down syndrome," Garner said. "I have a brother who is mentally and physically challenged. Being born different shouldn't be a death sentence."
The Icelandic government has disputed the reports that no babies with Down syndrome are born there. Iceland, which has a population of 338,000 people, has two to three babies born with Down syndrome each year, according to the government of Iceland. About 4,000 babies were born there in 2017.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome each year in the United States. The U.S. population is 325 million and live births total about 4 million year.
The World Health Organization estimates that the rate of babies born with Down syndrome is between one in 1,000 and one in 1,100 live births worldwide.
Andrea Zekis with the Arkansas Coalition for Reproductive Justice said legislators should be focused on supporting families taking care of those with Down syndrome rather than taking away the right of a woman to decide what is best for her and her family when faced with such a diagnosis.
"Women should be able to make decisions based on the needs of their own families and their own health," Zekis said. "This bill does nothing to make life easier for people who have children living with Down syndrome. It's a misguided effort and will ultimately cause these families more pain."
SB3 would require doctors to electronically report to the state Department of Health each abortion complication within three days of diagnosis. A health facility, such as a hospital, would have 30 days after treating a patient for abortion complications to make the report.
Information collected would include the date and type of the abortion; description of the complication, the patient's year of birth, race, marital status, and county and state of residence; the date of the first day of the patient's last menstrual period; the number of previous live births; and the number of previous induced abortions.
The bill would not require the reporting of the names of the doctor performing the abortion or the patient receiving the abortion.
The bill would require the Health Department to publish on its website an annual report in aggregate of the abortion complications. Individual records would be confidential and would not be disclosed under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Meg Mirivel, Health Department spokesman, said there are no reporting requirements now for abortion complications.
Doctors of health care facilities that violate this section of the law would be subject to a $500 civil penalty, according to the bill. Each day that the complication is not reported would constitute a separate violation. A third violation would result in a physician's or health care facility's license or permit being suspended or revoked.
"I've heard horror stories about women who have abortion complications," Garner said. "Having these requirements in place will protect the health of women."
Zekis said the Arkansas Coalition for Reproductive Justice opposes the bill because government should have no involvement in a woman's reproductive rights.
"These are personal issues. These are important issues," she said. "The doctor should know what is best for that patient and the government does not know that."
BIRTH CONTROL BILL
Pilkington said HB1164 -- which would amend Arkansas Code Annotated 17-92-101(16)(A) -- would reduce the number of abortions by allowing pharmacists to dispense birth control without a doctor's prescription to someone who is at least 18 years old.
While working on a committee for women's and children's health with the National Conference of State Legislatures, Pilkington said the group reviewed the efforts of other states to reduce the number of teen pregnancies and realized that the biggest hurdle was the lack of access to birth control.
"Arkansas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the nation," Pilkington said. "This is a great way to expand access and keep providers in charge."
A Republican advocating birth control is not counter to the party's message, Pilkington said.
"Just because you're pro life doesn't mean you're against birth control," he said. "If anything, we're able to reduce the number of abortions and we're helping to produce a more pro-life state. I think this is something people across the political spectrum can get behind."
Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Berryville, echoed Pilkington's sentiments.
"I think Democrats like to see Republicans as against birth control. That's an error in thinking, a misunderstanding," Ballinger said. "Republicans are about life. We don't see killing a baby as birth control."
Rose Mimms, executive director of the Arkansas Right to Life, said the group supports all pro-life bills that have been filed and she foresees many more coming down the pipeline.
"We're going to have two bills ourselves," Mimms said.
One to amend state law on "safe haven baby boxes" to allow 24-hour fire departments to be an additional drop-off site for unwanted babies. The other bill would give patients more information about the abortion pill reversal program.
"We're going a step further and giving information to women who obtained an abortion through medication and letting them know it may still be possible to save that pregnancy," Mimms said.
Ballinger said he knows of a "few things that have not been filed yet," but he declined to give specifics.
"It's nothing shocking. As far as the absolution of abortion, I have not seen that bill yet," Ballinger said. "But I'm ready to push the envelope if we could see a reasonable possibility of success."
Bettina Brownstein -- a cooperating attorney with American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the attorney for the Little Rock Family Planning Services and Planned Parenthood clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville -- said, "No one has a comment at this time," when asked for her stance on the proposed legislation.
Sunday on 01/20/2019