Rutledge Will Petition U.S. Supreme Court To Uphold 12-Week Abortion Ban

LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Wednesday she will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that an Arkansas law banning most abortions at 12 weeks or later into a pregnancy is unconstitutional.

In May, the 8th Circuit upheld U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright’s March 2014 ruling that struck down most of the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act. A three-judge panel of the appeals court said the state never presented evidence to refute testimony that at 12 weeks a fetus is not viable, or able to live outside the womb.

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