Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced yesterday that her office will ask the U.S. Cupreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling against the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act, a pro-life law the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2013.
You may recall the Human Heartbeat Protection Act by Sen. Jason Rapert prohibits most abortions after the twelfth week of pregnancy if a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law also contains provisions for informed-consent prior to an abortion.
Attorney General Rutledge released a statement, saying,
“As Attorney General, I have a duty to fully defend the State’s law, which prohibits abortions after 12 weeks of gestation when a heartbeat is detected. But beyond my duty, I firmly believe that the State has a profound interest in protecting the lives of the unborn, which is exactly what this law does.”
Earlier this year a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that struck part of the Heartbeat Protection Act as unconstitutional. The court left portions of the law dealing with informed-consent for abortion in place.
Attorney General Rutledge’s office is expected to file their petition with the U.S. Supreme Court sometime in the coming weeks.
Jerry Donaldson
Jerry Donaldson