Abortion Ban Legislation Advances To Floor Of Arkansas House

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 13 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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An Arkansas House committee on Tuesday approved a bill (HB 1113) that would ban so-called "partial-birth" abortions, the AP/Baxter Bulletin reports. The stated purpose of the bill is to ban procedures that a person "knows will kill [a] partially delivered living human fetus." State Rep. Dawn Creekmore (D) sponsored the bill, which mirrors a 2003 federal law that bans the procedure. The new bill includes an exemption to preserve the life of the pregnant woman (Zeman, AP/Baxter Bulletin, 2/10). The Supreme Court upheld the federal law in 2007, but Creekmore said she is worried that Congress might overturn the law. The state bill would give the state Medical Board power to penalize doctors who violate the ban and allow prison sentences of up to six years, compared with two years under the federal law. The pregnant woman involved in a procedure would not face criminal or civil penalties under the proposal (Blomeley, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 2/11).

Creekmore said the bill would affect abortions performed after the first trimester. She also said, "A vote for this bill ... does not take away [a woman's] choice. A pregnant female will still have that choice within the first trimester of pregnancy" (AP/Baxter Bulletin, 2/10). Martha Adcock, an attorney for the Family Council, which assisted Creekmore in writing the bill, said that there is no exemption for a case to preserve the "health" of the woman because the federal law refers to the "life" of the woman. She also stated that no information is available on whether any of the 4,844 abortions performed in the state in 2007 would have been covered under the bill.

Bonnie Robertson, community affairs coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, called the measure an "unnecessary bill" and challenged Arkansas Right to Life and the Family Council to "come up with something that actually prevents unwanted pregnancies." She added that the procedure is not performed in Arkansas and that the bill could potentially result in a woman's name being revealed if a doctor in violation faced legal action. She continued, "This bill is a mess. The intent is to get you riled up." Holly Dickson, legal director for the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill opens the door for challenges in court because it does not have a safeguard for the health of the woman. She said both the state bill and the federal law "compromise the judgment" of physicians (Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 2/11).

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