Advocacy groups vs. Arkansas: Lawsuit challenges abortion ban

Advocacy organizations led by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit challenging a near-total ban on abortions in Arkansas.

The lawsuit argues that the law is the “culmination of a nearly decade long campaign by the Arkansas legislature to eliminate legal abortion” in the state. The groups assert in the lawsuit that the ban is a “direct affront to almost half a century of Supreme Court precedent.”

But challenging Supreme Court precedent was entirely the point. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told CNN he signed the law “because it is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade,” as the Supreme Court now has a 6-3 conservative majority.

“Arkansas is the most pro-life state in the nation, and I will continue to defend laws that will protect the life of the unborn from radical organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood that promote the killing of unborn children,” Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement.

Background: The law in question, expected to go into effect on July 28, prohibits abortion in nearly every case and imposes stiff criminal penalties on doctors for providing care surrounding the procedure. Under the legislation, abortions will only be allowed to save the life of the mother. Cases of rape and incest are not exceptions.

Why it’s important: The Court recently announced that it will hear a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with only narrow exceptions.

The Mississippi and Arkansas laws are among a slew of anti-abortion measures passed by states recently that were designed to challenge Roe v. Wade and advance the case to the Supreme Court.