Even as Republicans passed bills to ban nearly all abortions in Arkansas in the first half of the 2021 legislative session, at least 10 other laws that add restrictions around the procedure and facilities that provide it were enacted.
Members of the anti-abortion movement and organizations that support abortion rights both believe it was a record year for laws that restrict the procedure in the state.
According to a May analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights research and advocacy group, Arkansas enacted 20 additional restrictions on abortion, more than any other state this year. The organization's policy analysis counts individual restrictions rather than laws, because there can be more than one restriction within the same law.
At the forefront of Arkansas' new abortion laws is Act 309 of 2021, which has been called the most restrictive abortion law in the nation and late last month was met with a legal challenge in federal court from reproductive-rights groups.
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