U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Illegal

Arkansas

Arkansas is enforcing its trigger ban to prohibit abortion entirely.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 22-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, Total Ban
  • Gestational Ban, Viability
  • Method Ban
  • Reason Ban
  • Telemedicine Ban
  • Trigger Ban

Bans Enjoined

  • Gestational Ban, 12-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, 18-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, Total Ban
  • Method Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Mandatory Ultrasound Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Admitting Privilege Requirement
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

Restrictions

On June 24, 2022, Arkansas began enforcing its trigger ban, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, 1 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.2 The trigger ban is in effect.3 Arkansas has not repealed other laws related to abortion. It retains a total ban and gestational bans at twelve-weeks LMP, eighteen weeks LMP, twenty weeks gestational age, and after viability.4 The twelve-week ban is permanently enjoined,5 however Arkansas has asked a federal court to vacate the injunction now  that Roe has been overturned.6 The state prohibits D&X and D&E methods of abortion7, and abortions sought for reason of sex selection and Down syndrome,8 however the sex selection reason ban is enjoined.9 Pregnant people must undergo a mandatory seventy-two-hour waiting period,10 biased counseling,11 and an ultrasound,12 The state retains prohibitions on public funding 13 and private insurance coverage.14  It continues to require that a parent, legal guardian,15 or judge16 consent to a minor’s abortion. In 2020, Arkansas exploited the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to ban abortion care, issuing an executive order17 that purported to suspend procedures deemed “elective” by the state. This order contradicted major medical groups in the United States and around the world, which agree that abortion is essential and time sensitive health care.18 The state later issued another order allowing patients to seek procedural abortion care after COVID-19 testing.19 The state retains targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws related to facilities,20 admitting privileges and transfer agreements,21 and reporting.22 In 2023, the state repealed the licensing requirement of abortion clinics to conform with the state’s total ban.23 Arkansas continues to restricts the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians24 and does not include protections for clinic safety and access. Arkansas still restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.25 Providers who violate Arkansas’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.26

State Protections

Arkansas law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion. To the contrary, Amendment 68, intended to “protect the life of every unborn child,” amended the Arkansas Constitution to state “[t]he policy of Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth, to the extent permitted by the Federal Constitution.”27

Post-Roe Prohibitions

In 2019, Arkansas enacted a “trigger” ban,28 and the state has a pre-Roe ban.29 The trigger ban took effect on June 24, 2022, banning all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person.30

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Arkansas is enforcing its trigger ban to prohibit abortion entirely.

  1. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7 5-61-301 to u2013 5-61-304; Stephen Simpson, Arkansas attorney general certifies u2018trigger lawu2019 banning abortions in state, Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Jun. 24. 2022) ↩︎
  2. Dobbs v. Jackson Womenu2019s Health Org., 597 U.S (June 24, 2022), revu2019d Dobbs v. Jackson Womenu2019s Health Org., 945 F.3d 265, 274 (5th Cir. 2019). ↩︎
  3. Stephen Simpson, Arkansas attorney general certifies u2018trigger lawu2019 banning abortions in state, Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Jun. 24. 2022) https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jun/24/watch-live-arkansas-attorney-general-governor-to-certify-trigger-law-discuss-rulings-effect-on-state/ ↩︎
  4. ARK. CODE ANN. u00a7u00a7 5-61-401 u20135-61-404, 20-16-1304, 20-16-2002(b), 20-16-1405, 20-16-705 (a). ↩︎
  5. Edwards v. Beck, 8 F. Supp. 3d 1091 (E.D. Ark. 2014), aff’d, 786 F.3d 1113 (8th Cir. 2015). ↩︎
  6. Edwards v. Beck, 8 F. Supp. 3d 1091 (E.D. Ark. 2014), aff’d, 786 F.3d 1113 (8th Cir. 2015), motion to vacate judgment filed, 4:13-cv-00224-SWW (E.D. Ark. July 1, 2022). ↩︎
  7. ARK. CODE ANN. u00a7 20-16-1203, 20-16-1803. ↩︎
  8. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7u00a7 20-16-1904, 20-16-2103. ↩︎
  9. Hopkins v. Jegley, 510 F. Supp. 3d 638 (E.D. Ark., 2021), enjoining sex selection reason ban; Little Rock Fam. Plan. Servs. v. Rutledge, 984 F.3d 682 (8th Cir. 2021), petition for cert. filed (No. 20-1434), Apr 09, 2021, cert. granted and judgment vacated by Little Rock Fam. Plan. Servs. v. Rutledge, 142 S.Ct. 2894 (June 30, 2022). ↩︎
  10. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7 20-16-1703(b)(1) ↩︎
  11. Id. u00a7u00a7 20-16-1703(b)(2), 20-16-2403 (a)-(b). ↩︎
  12. Id.u00a7u00a7 20-16-1703(e), 20-16-1303, 20-16-602(c)(2). ↩︎
  13. ARK. CONST. AMEND. 68, u00a7 1; In Hodges v. Huckabee, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that the state “cannot stand as a bar to the payment of Medicaid funds for abortions necessary as the result of rape or incest so long as the Hyde Amendment as written remains in effect.” 995 S.W.2d 341, 347 (Ark. 1999). Therefore, Amendment 68 is enforced to the limit of federal law. ↩︎
  14. ARK. CODE ANN. u00a7 23-79-156. ↩︎
  15. Id. u00a7 20-16-804. ↩︎
  16. Id. u00a7 20-16-809. ↩︎
  17. Ark. Dep’t of Health, ADA Directive on Elective Surgeries, (Apr. 3, 2020) ↩︎
  18. See Joint Statement on Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Outbreak, Am. Coll. Obstetrics & Gynecology (Mar. 18, 2020); Disaster Risk Management for Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, World Health Org. (May 2011); Safe Abortion Care in the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings, Inter-Agency Working Grp. (Dec. 19, 2019) ↩︎
  19. Ark. Dep’t of Health, Directive on Resuming Elective Procedures (Apr. 27, 2020) ↩︎
  20. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7 20-9-302; Ark. Admin. Code 007.05.2-8, 007.05.2-12. ↩︎
  21. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7u00a7 20-16-1504(d), 20-19-312. ARK. ADMIN. CODE 007.05.2-8. The Supreme Court denied certiorari, allowing a “contract physician” admitting privileges requirement to go into effect. See Planned Parenthood of Arkansas. & E. Oklahoma. v. Jegley, 138 S. Ct. 2573 (2018). ↩︎
  22. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7u00a7 20-16-1108, 20-16-1406, 20-9-302(g), 20-16-608, 20-16-705(c), 20-16-1305(b), 20-16-1405(a)(3)(A), 20-162004 (a)-(b), (d), 20-16-2407(b)(2). ↩︎
  23. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7 20-9-302. ↩︎
  24. Id. u00a7 5-61-101. ↩︎
  25. Id. u00a7u00a7 20-16-603, 20-16-1504, 20-16-1703. ↩︎
  26. See, e.g., id. u00a7u00a7 20-16-1408, 20-16-704. ↩︎
  27. ARK. CONST. amend. LXVIII, u00a7 2. ↩︎
  28. Ark. Code Ann. u00a7 5-61-301 u2014 304. ↩︎
  29. Id. u00a7 5-61-102. ↩︎
  30. Stephen Simpson, Arkansas attorney general certifies u2018trigger lawu2019 banning abortions in state, Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Jun. 24. 2022) https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jun/24/watch-live-arkansas-attorney-general-governor-to-certify-trigger-law-discuss-rulings-effect-on-state ↩︎