Arkansas Legislature Passes Bill Restricting Abortion Facilities
On Tuesday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed S.B. 388.
This good bill by Sen. Charles Beckham (R – McNeil) and Rep. Joe Cloud (R – Russellville) requires any facility that performs abortions to be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health as an abortion facility.
S.B. 388 also prohibits abortions in hospitals except in cases of medical emergency.
The bill previously passed the Arkansas Senate with strong support.
Under current law, clinics are not required to be licensed or inspected as abortion facilities unless they perform more than ten abortions in a month.
That means that a clinic potentially could perform upwards of 100 or more abortions per year without being licensed or inspected by the State of Arkansas as an abortion facility.
S.B. 388 addresses this loophole in Arkansas law.
This bill will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to enforce the good, pro-life laws that lawmakers have implemented over the years. It will ensure that every clinic that performs abortions is licensed and inspected, and that Arkansas’ laws against abortion are properly followed.
S.B. 388 will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to identify and shutdown facilities performing occasional abortions if the facilities aren’t complying with Arkansas’ other pro-life laws.
This is a really good bill. It now goes to the governor to become law.
