Arkansas Allows Families to Sue Over Abortion
Most common abortion practice also banned in the state
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Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson has signed a new bill that bans uterine dilation and evacuation, a common method of abortion and enables family members to sue the clinic that provides the abortion services.
The dilation and evacuation procedure involves dilating the uterus and scraping tissue out of the uterus and is used in at least 95% of second trimester abortions reports Jezebel.
The law was sponsored by Rep. Andy Mayberry and Rep. Dave Sanders. Sanders claims to have seen footage of an abortion procedure and said “You see a baby, an unborn life, a fetus, engaging in fight or flight reaction to the forceps going into the womb, trying to remove an arm, remove a leg.”
Should a physician conduct this type of procedure, they will be open to lawsuits from the woman’s spouse, parent, guardian, or current or former physician.
When asked about cases of rape or incest, Mayberry told the Daily Beast, the “bill wouldn’t affect a woman seeking an abortion by any other method” than dilation and evacuation, and that the bill prohibited the father from winning monetary damages in the event of rape or incest. The bill would not, however, prevent the father from seeking injunctive relief to stop an abortion under these circumstances.
The law is said to take effect in spring.
In Thailand, abortion is illegal. However, Thai family lawyer Jiraporn Thongpong said that exceptions include “when it is done by a medical practitioner and is if the health of the mother is in danger or when the pregnancy is due to rape and/or incest.”
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