aGameOfThrones
03-14-2014, 10:05 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge Friday struck down Arkansas' attempt to ban most abortions beginning 12 weeks into a woman's pregnancy, saying viability, not a heartbeat, remains the key factor in determining whether abortions should be allowed.
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright last year had stopped enforcement of the law while she reviewed it, and on Friday she declared that it was unconstitutional. She cited previous court decisions that said abortions shouldn't be restricted until after a fetus reaches viability, which is typically at 22 to 24 weeks.
"The state presents no evidence that a fetus can live outside the mother's womb at twelve weeks," the judge wrote.
In her decision Friday, Wright said only a doctor could determine viability.
"The Supreme Court has ... stressed that it is not the proper function of the legislature or the courts to place viability at a specific point in the gestation period," Wright wrote.
Wright left in place a portion of the law that requires doctors to check for a fetal heartbeat and to notify the pregnant woman if one is present.
"The ruling is what the governor predicted in his veto letter last year," Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said.
The state attorney general's office said it was reviewing possible next steps. "Today's decision was not a surprise," spokesman Aaron Sadler said.
Bettina Brownstein, who represented two doctors who perform abortions at a Little Rock clinic, said the 12-week ban was "demeaning to women."
"The law never should have been passed in the first place, it's so unquestionably unconstitutional," she said. She said it was unlikely that Drs. Louis Jerry Edwards and Tom Tvedten would appeal the portion of the law requiring them to notify patients if a heartbeat is detected.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-judge-strikes-arkansas-12-week-abortion-ban-213254963.html
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright last year had stopped enforcement of the law while she reviewed it, and on Friday she declared that it was unconstitutional. She cited previous court decisions that said abortions shouldn't be restricted until after a fetus reaches viability, which is typically at 22 to 24 weeks.
"The state presents no evidence that a fetus can live outside the mother's womb at twelve weeks," the judge wrote.
In her decision Friday, Wright said only a doctor could determine viability.
"The Supreme Court has ... stressed that it is not the proper function of the legislature or the courts to place viability at a specific point in the gestation period," Wright wrote.
Wright left in place a portion of the law that requires doctors to check for a fetal heartbeat and to notify the pregnant woman if one is present.
"The ruling is what the governor predicted in his veto letter last year," Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said.
The state attorney general's office said it was reviewing possible next steps. "Today's decision was not a surprise," spokesman Aaron Sadler said.
Bettina Brownstein, who represented two doctors who perform abortions at a Little Rock clinic, said the 12-week ban was "demeaning to women."
"The law never should have been passed in the first place, it's so unquestionably unconstitutional," she said. She said it was unlikely that Drs. Louis Jerry Edwards and Tom Tvedten would appeal the portion of the law requiring them to notify patients if a heartbeat is detected.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-judge-strikes-arkansas-12-week-abortion-ban-213254963.html