Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • News
  • Politics
  • Coronavirus Updates
  • Faith
  • Opinion
  • Christmas
  • Set Free Course

Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas From Implementing Near Total Abortion Ban

AP Photo/Michael Conroy
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

July 21, 2021

An Obama-era federal judge blocked Arkansas on Tuesday from implementing strict legislation that would have greatly restricted abortion access in the state.

In her court order issuing a preliminary injunction against the law, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker, appointed in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, described the bill — set to take effect July 28 — as “categorically unconstitutional.”

LISTEN TO TODAY’S PODCAST:

If implemented, the legislation would have banned all abortions in Arkansas, including in cases of rape and incest. The only exception would have been for rare instances when the life of the mother was in danger.

Baker argued the plaintiffs — the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider — were “likely to succeed on the merits” of their claim that the Arkansas legislation blocks access to abortion before the age of viability outside the womb and, as such, is unconstitutional based upon precedent established by the Supreme Court.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

“Defendants do not make any argument to the contrary and concede that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits,” the judge explained. “Instead, defendants argue that [Roe v. Wade] and [Planned Parenthood v. Casey] were wrongly decided and that there is no constitutional right to abortion. As a federal district court, this Court ‘is bound by the Supreme Court’s decisions in Casey.’ Accordingly, the Act is categorically unconstitutional, and plaintiffs have demonstrated they are likely to succeed on the merits.”

“Defendants make no argument as to whether or not plaintiffs or plaintiffs’ patients will experience irreparable harm,” she continued. “Since the record at this stage of the proceedings indicates that women seeking abortions in Arkansas face an imminent threat to their constitutional rights, the court concludes that they will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief.”

The ACLU of Arkansas praised the judge for the injunction.

Meagan Burrows, a staff attorney at the ALCU Reproductive Freedom Project, said Baker’s decision “makes clear that Arkansas’ abortion ban is just as unconstitutional as the bans struck down before it in stales like Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri, and ensures that abortion remains legal in Arkansas, as it is in all 50 states.”

She went on to say the court order “should serve as a stark reminder to anti-abortion politicians in Arkansas and other states that they cannot strip people of their right to make the deeply personal decision about whether to have an abortion or continue a pregnancy.”

The executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, Holly Dickson, also condemned the pro-life bill as “another cruel and harmful attempt to criminalize abortion care and intrude on Arkansans’ deeply personal medical decisions,” stating the organization is “relieved” by Baker’s ruling.

When he signed the bill into law in March, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said the legislation was intended to challenge the high court’s landmark ruling on Roe v. Wade, which gave nationwide legal cover for abortion.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

“It is not constitutional under Supreme Court cases right now,” the governor explained at the time, adding he wanted to test decades old ruling, given the 6-3 conservative majority on the bench. “I signed it because it is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade. That was the intent of it.”

“I think there’s a very narrow chance that the Supreme Court will accept that case, but we will see,” Hutchinson said.

Latest

  • Culture

    ‘Hollywood Is Not America’: Pop Star Katy Perry’s Realization About Culture While Living in Kentucky

  • Faith

    Christian Teen Was Diagnosed With an Inoperable Cancerous Brain Tumor. 13 Years Later, His Story Proves How God Uses Pain for Purpose

  • Entertainment

    Disney+ Reportedly Set to Make This Move to Help Make Platform ‘Family-Friendly’

  • News

    Texas Teen Goes to Bathroom at NBA Game, Is Found 10 Days Later Sold for Sex in Oklahoma Hotel

  • Faith

    He Once Believed His Abortion Story Was ‘the Unforgivable Sin.’ Here’s His Powerful Message to Women and Men


Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?