An abortion rights advocate holds signage at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., voicing her opposition to state legislatures passing abortion bans that prohibit most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Abortion rights supporters on Wednesday challenged an Arkansas law banning the procedure 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy and another requirement that they say would likely force the closure of the state's only surgical abortion clinic.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Little Rock Family Planning Services. Planned Parenthood operates facilities in Little Rock and Fayetteville that administer abortion-inducing medication but don't perform surgical abortions. Little Rock Family Planning performs surgical abortions.
Another law being challenged includes one prohibiting doctors from performing an abortion if it's solely being sought because the fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome. The lawsuit comes as abortion rights supporters are fighting restrictions in GOP-led states that they say are aimed at ending the procedure. The only abortion clinic in neighbouring Missouri has lost its license to perform the procedure, though a judge has said the facility can continue operating through Friday. The clinic on Tuesday asked a state panel for an extension. Missouri would be the first state since 1974 -- the year after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v.
I understand people right to choose what they wish to do with their bodies, but it should be clarified, we're choosing between terminating a life or not.