Arkansas Abortion Ban Passed is Sharpest Challenge Yet to Roe v. Wade

Arkansas has adopted what is by far the nation’s most restrictive ban on abortion — at 12 weeks of pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat can typically be detected by abdominal ultrasound.

The law, the most pointed challenge yet to Roe v. Wade, was passed by the newly Republican-controlled legislature over the veto of Gov. Mike Beebe. Beebe called the law “blatantly unconstitutional.”

The law contradicts the limit established by Supreme Court decisions, which give women a right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks into pregnancy.

Arkansas Abortion Ban is Most Restrictive in the Nation by

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