This article is part of an ongoing series tracking the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 and examining its effects on state law.
Last week the Associated Press reported that the Arkansas Abortion Amendment does not have support from Planned Parenthood Great Plains — the abortion giant’s regional affiliate over Arkansas.
The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would legalize abortion by writing it into the Arkansas Constitution.
The measure prevents the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — which would potentially allow thousands of elective abortions in Arkansas every year.
It also contains sweeping health exceptions for abortion throughout all nine months, and it nullifies all state laws that conflict with the amendment — putting basic restrictions like parental consent and informed consent laws in jeopardy.
However, the Associated Press reports the amendment may not go far enough for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider.
The measure [in Arkansas] would bar laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth. Because it allows limits as soon as 20 weeks, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas.
In December, the Arkansas Abortion Support Network expressed reservations about an earlier draft of the proposed abortion amendment in a statement online, indicating the group would prefer a ballot measure “that does not . . . limit abortion access in the state.”
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
