Arkansas A.G. to Petition U.S. Supreme Court on Pro-Life Law
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.
The semiannual 40 Days for Life prayer vigils kick off in Arkansas and elsewhere around the country this week.