There are land mines all over Arkansas law for women now that the state’s virtually exceptionless abortion ban is in effect.
For example, consider a 2019 law (signed by that “moderate” Asa Hutchinson):
It is the Abortion Complications Reporting Act.
You think it ONLY applies to women who have obtained an abortion? Maybe. Maybe not. Read on. And, of course, it would apply to a doctor or health facility who saw a woman who HAD received an abortion in a state where it was legal. So Arkansas anti-woman sleuths could track down specifics in other states and perhaps go after a woman, too. As the Rewire News Group reports:
SB 3 requires physicians and health-care facilities to file a report within three days to the health department regarding each individual under their care who has been diagnosed or treated for a complication that may be the result of an abortion.
Any of the following would be considered an abortion complication:
- shock;
- uterine perforation;
- cervical laceration;
- hemorrhage;
- aspiration or allergic response;
- infection;
- sepsis;
- death;
- incomplete abortion;
- damage to the uterus; and
- an infant born alive after an abortion procedure.
Each report of a complication must contain the following information:
- the date of the abortion that may have caused the complication;
- the type of abortion that may have caused the complication;
- the gestational age of the fetus at the time of the abortion;
- the name and type of health-care facility in which the abortion was performed;
- the date the abortion complication was diagnosed or treated;
- the name and type of any health-care facility (other than the reporting facility) in which the abortion complication was diagnosed or treated;
- a description of the complication;
- the patient’s year of birth, race, marital status, state of residence, and county of residence;
- the date of the first day of the patient’s menstrual period that occurred before the date of the abortion;
- the number of previous live births of the patient; and
- the number of previous induced abortions of the patient.
A physician or health-care facility that violates this provision would be charged $500 for each violation. After three separate violations, the physician or health-care facility may have their license revoked.
When a “pro-life” legislator or the hateful Family Council tries to “tut-tut” you about this law, your response should be the same as when they “tut-tut” you about the supposed ectopic pregnancy exception in the broad abortion van, vague and already problematic in other states — bullshit.
They claim to hold women harmless? More bullshit. As noted here, every miscarriage is a potential crime scene to the fanatics.
PS: When they show you who they are …
For those claiming that anti-choicers make a distinction between emergency and “elective” abortions: a proposal to exempt fatal ectopic pregnancies from Idaho’s abortion ban was just brought up at a state Republican Party convention. It failed. https://t.co/Uhi4xb7niC pic.twitter.com/Sn42a4N3zX
— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) July 17, 2022
And speaking of bullshit and the hateful Family Council, lawyer David Couch called them out yesterday on their dishonest tut-tutting about their abortion ban.
Not what is says (at risk) and the difference is significant- what it does say is –
A person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an
abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency. https://t.co/wXkOFt9iuu— David Couch (@DavidCouchAR) July 17, 2022
The Family Council knows the law doesn’t say “at risk.” It knows the only exception is to save a life, a decision that is not easy to quantify and which doctors rightly have reason to fear being used against them. It’s my opinion that when you know what the law says and you contend it says something different, it is a lie.
