Federal court rules Arkansas abortion restrictions can take effect

CNA Staff, Aug 10, 2020 / 17:01 pm

A federal court of appeals has removed an injunction blocking four Arkansas abortion regulations from going into effect.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday to reinstate the 2017 Arkansas laws. They can take effect August 28, although they may still face legal challenge.

The laws include a ban on abortions based solely on the sex of the baby, and two regulations on the preservation and disposal of tissue from aborted babies, as well as legislation prohibiting a second-trimester abortion method known as "dilation and evacuation," by which an unborn baby is dismembered.

A district judge had blocked the rules following a legal challenge from the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of a local abortion doctor.

The appeals court said the district judge should re-examine the case in light of the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this summer in June Medical Services v. Russo.

While that decision struck down a law regulating abortion clinics in Louisiana, the appeals court said Chief Justice John Robert's concurrence in the case may be relevant to the Arkansas legislation in question. Roberts said states have "wide discretion to pass legislation in areas where there is medical and scientific uncertainty."

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge applauded the ruling.

"Arkansas has taken a strong stance to protect the unborn from inhumane treatment," she said in an August 7 statement.

"As Arkansas's chief legal officer, I have always advocated for the lives of unborn children and will continue to defend our State's legal right to protect the unborn. No defenseless baby should ever face the unimaginable and horrifying fate of death by dismemberment."