Arkansas pro-life leaders say a lawsuit filed Jan. 28 in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Little Rock seeking to strike down the state’s abortion restrictions — and subsequently all the state’s pro-life laws — is “deceptive” and “misleading.”
In the lawsuit, which is the first major constitutional challenge to Arkansas’ pro-life laws, four women claim to have experienced severe pregnancy complications, and an ob-gyn contends that the law’s exception allowing abortion only to save the life of the mother is both “unworkable and unconstitutionally vague.”
Amber Singleton, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life (ARTL), called the lawsuit “deceptive.”
“I am saddened by the deceptive nature of this lawsuit. I have spoken with several ob-gyns in our state, and not one of them in their many years of practice has been fearful of breaking a pro-life law while caring for any of their patients. Not one of them has had to recommend an abortion in the case of an incompetent cervix,” said Singleton.
She added, “While I have a huge amount of compassion for misguided women who have chosen abortion as a solution for unwanted medical or social circumstances, I cannot see how our pro-life laws that protect both the life of the mother and the baby could be construed as unconstitutional.”
Dr. Sharai Amaya, ARTL board president and a physician and advocate for women’s health, said the lawsuit attempts to mislead the public by calling abortion “medical care.”
“Induced abortion is the intentional killing of the preborn child. Pro-abortion advocates are trying to mislead the public by calling medical treatments for serious conditions ‘abortion care,’ when, in fact, things such as treating ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages have never been considered induced abortions. While premature delivery is sometimes medically necessary, it is my belief that it should never be undertaken for the sole purpose of facilitating the death of the baby,” said Dr. Amaya.
Arkansas has been named the most pro-life state in the United States for six consecutive years by Americans United for Life because of its numerous laws that protect life from conception until natural death. A state trigger law made abortion illegal except to save the life of the mother following the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
