Arkansas abortion clinics file suit to halt statewide restrictions

Arkansas' three abortion clinics, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging three newly passed abortion laws that are scheduled to go into effect statewide on July 24.

The lawsuit, assigned to U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson, seeks a preliminary restraining order to prevent Acts 493, 619 and 700, all of 2019, from being enforced until their constitutionality is decided.

The laws "would outlaw and severely restrict abortion access in the state," according to a news release issued on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Act 493 bans abortions in Arkansas after 18 weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies and in cases of rape or incest.

Act 619 prohibits post-viability abortions — those obtained after a fetus is capable of living independently outside the womb, generally at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy — due to a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Act 700 requires doctors performing abortions to be board-certified or eligible for board-certification in obstetrics and gynecology, and amends the definition of viability to include the reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus with or without artificial life support. The plaintiffs say it prohibits qualified physicians from providing safe, legal abortion, thereby severely limiting the pool of available abortion providers in the state and burdening access to care.

"In recent years," the lawsuit asserts, "Arkansas has engaged in a targeted campaign against abortion, enacting more than 25 laws aimed at obstructing and interfering with women's access to abortion care in the state, including at least 12 enacted in 2019 alone."

The three laws being challenged "fly directly in the face of longstanding Supreme Court precedent and are the latest in Arkansas's unrelenting campaign to deny women the health care they seek and to which they are entitled," it says.

Without relief from the court, the suit says, the recently enacted restrictions "will have a devastating effect on women seeking access to abortion in the state," according to a statement.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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