Is This the Fall of Roe V. Wade? A Glimpse into The Current State of Women鈥檚 Reproductive Rights and What It Means for Arkansans
By: Lyda Ryan
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect views of the Journal, the William H. Bowen School of Law, or 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock
Earlier this year, in May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott essentially declared open season on women鈥檚 reproductive rights. a new bill that effectively prohibits any abortions in Texas as early as six weeks gestation. This is often before most women know they are pregnant. Additionally, the bill and others. This new bill was crafted and signed into law with the intent to provide the Supreme Court with a case to overrule , which recognized a woman鈥檚 constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy.
While many states, including Arkansas, have tried over the years to also implement restrictive laws to contravene and provide grounds to overrule Roe, . The Texas law, on the other hand, has been implemented. The Supreme Court of the United States heard an emergency petition on the law and late on Wednesday night on September 1, 2021, utilizing the 鈥渟hadow docket鈥�, in which they refused to issue an injunction to prevent the implementation of the law.
Following the decision by the Supreme Court to refuse to issue injunctive relief, the . Earlier this week, however, on October 14th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled , based on the reasoning of the Supreme Court in Whole Woman鈥檚 Health. that 鈥淛ustice Department lawyers and constitutional law scholars counter that the federal government must be permitted to take action to prevent an end-run around the judicial system. If the abortion ban in Texas is upheld by the courts, they say, state legislatures throughout the country could craft similar laws that infringe on other constitutional rights 鈥� the right to own a gun, for example, or to pray in public.鈥�
This reasoning is equally true for states that have been attempting to implement as restrictive as possible abortion bans since the issuance of Roe v. Wade. By seeing an example of what the courts, for now, are allowing to be implemented and carried out, states will be able to take the Texas law and adopt it in their own states. This is exactly what .
In September, immediately following the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, Senator Rapert announced on that he ordered a bill to be filed that would be similar to the Texas abortion law. Senator Rapert is a vocal supporter of the pro-life movement. In his time in office he has submitted multiple bills attempting to limit a woman鈥檚 right to an abortion. Prior to the Texas law, , was the most restrictive abortion law in the country. The law sought to ban all abortions, except to save the life of a pregnant women in the case of an emergency. That law of this year by the U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker.
So what does this mean for Arkansans? Senator Rapert that he intends to introduce his version of the Texas abortion ban bill when the Arkansas legislature reconvenes for a special session on October 25th. If Senator Rapert is able to successfully pass this bill, it will be detrimental to women and their reproductive health all across Arkansas. Approximately were reported in Arkansas . Based on how federal courts have handled the Texas law, it seems likely that the Eighth Circuit may follow a similar path in reviewing a similar law, if passed, in Arkansas. That is, until the Supreme Court revisits the laws surronding abortion themselves when they hear the case of at the end of 2021.
Unfortunately, until Senator Rapert introduces his bill in the upcoming weeks, Arkansans will be left in a state of limbo. Stay up to date on the current status of any abortion laws in Arkansas at .