Federal judge blocks Arkansas near-total abortion ban – By Daniel Uria (UPI) / July 20 2021
July 20 (UPI) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a law that would ban almost all abortions in Arkansas.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction ruling the ban was “categorically unconstitutional” because it prohibits providers for performing abortions before a fetus would be considered viable.
The law bans abortions except “to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency” while providing no other exceptions for instances such as rape, incest or fetal anomalies.
Baker ruled the plaintiffs, Little Rock Family Planning Services and its patients, had the standing to challenge the law based on its restriction of pre-viability abortions and said their argument was likely to succeed.
