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'Every day, women in Arkansas and across the United States struggle to get the care they need as lawmakers impose new ways to shut down clinics and make abortion unavailable. Arkansas women cannot afford to lose further access.' (Credit: Socialroby/Twenty20)
Arkansans have plenty of health needs their politicians should address -- from the third highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S.
Arkansans have plenty of health needs their politicians should address -- from the third highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. to an opioid epidemic. Yet Arkansas politicians have spent their energies blocking a woman's access to abortion care with ever crueler means.
Before 2017, Arkansas was already a leader in the campaign to obstruct and hinder reproductive rights. The state tried to ban abortion at 12 weeks, a law that the ACLU fought and defeated. But many onerous restrictions remain. Arkansas forces a woman to make an extra, unnecessary trip to a physician to hear state-mandated information; then to delay care for at least 48 hours; and then to make another trip back to the provider to get her abortion. The state also bans abortion coverage in state insurance exchange plans.
This year, Arkansas lawmakers enacted a slew of new restrictions that practically prohibit access to abortion services. Here's what they do:
Last week, along with our colleagues at the Center for Reproductive Rights, ACLU of Arkansas, and Planned Parenthood, we filed two lawsuits challenging these five restrictions.
After last year's Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which made it clear that a woman has the right to get abortion care with dignity and without needless barriers, one would think that state legislators would halt such efforts. Sadly, that hasn't happened. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in just the first three months of 2017, lawmakers around the country introduced 431 measures that would restrict access to abortion care.
Every day, women in Arkansas and across the United States struggle to get the care they need as lawmakers impose new ways to shut down clinics and make abortion unavailable. Arkansas women cannot afford to lose further access. They cannot afford to travel hundreds of miles to get to the nearest clinic. And they should not have to endure invasions of privacy and violations of their autonomy.
A woman's decision to end a pregnancy is hers to make with her family, her faith, and her doctor. We will fight politicians who not only seek to shame, punish, or burden women for making these decisions, but also try to push care out of reach.
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Arkansans have plenty of health needs their politicians should address -- from the third highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. to an opioid epidemic. Yet Arkansas politicians have spent their energies blocking a woman's access to abortion care with ever crueler means.
Before 2017, Arkansas was already a leader in the campaign to obstruct and hinder reproductive rights. The state tried to ban abortion at 12 weeks, a law that the ACLU fought and defeated. But many onerous restrictions remain. Arkansas forces a woman to make an extra, unnecessary trip to a physician to hear state-mandated information; then to delay care for at least 48 hours; and then to make another trip back to the provider to get her abortion. The state also bans abortion coverage in state insurance exchange plans.
This year, Arkansas lawmakers enacted a slew of new restrictions that practically prohibit access to abortion services. Here's what they do:
Last week, along with our colleagues at the Center for Reproductive Rights, ACLU of Arkansas, and Planned Parenthood, we filed two lawsuits challenging these five restrictions.
After last year's Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which made it clear that a woman has the right to get abortion care with dignity and without needless barriers, one would think that state legislators would halt such efforts. Sadly, that hasn't happened. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in just the first three months of 2017, lawmakers around the country introduced 431 measures that would restrict access to abortion care.
Every day, women in Arkansas and across the United States struggle to get the care they need as lawmakers impose new ways to shut down clinics and make abortion unavailable. Arkansas women cannot afford to lose further access. They cannot afford to travel hundreds of miles to get to the nearest clinic. And they should not have to endure invasions of privacy and violations of their autonomy.
A woman's decision to end a pregnancy is hers to make with her family, her faith, and her doctor. We will fight politicians who not only seek to shame, punish, or burden women for making these decisions, but also try to push care out of reach.
Arkansans have plenty of health needs their politicians should address -- from the third highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. to an opioid epidemic. Yet Arkansas politicians have spent their energies blocking a woman's access to abortion care with ever crueler means.
Before 2017, Arkansas was already a leader in the campaign to obstruct and hinder reproductive rights. The state tried to ban abortion at 12 weeks, a law that the ACLU fought and defeated. But many onerous restrictions remain. Arkansas forces a woman to make an extra, unnecessary trip to a physician to hear state-mandated information; then to delay care for at least 48 hours; and then to make another trip back to the provider to get her abortion. The state also bans abortion coverage in state insurance exchange plans.
This year, Arkansas lawmakers enacted a slew of new restrictions that practically prohibit access to abortion services. Here's what they do:
Last week, along with our colleagues at the Center for Reproductive Rights, ACLU of Arkansas, and Planned Parenthood, we filed two lawsuits challenging these five restrictions.
After last year's Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which made it clear that a woman has the right to get abortion care with dignity and without needless barriers, one would think that state legislators would halt such efforts. Sadly, that hasn't happened. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in just the first three months of 2017, lawmakers around the country introduced 431 measures that would restrict access to abortion care.
Every day, women in Arkansas and across the United States struggle to get the care they need as lawmakers impose new ways to shut down clinics and make abortion unavailable. Arkansas women cannot afford to lose further access. They cannot afford to travel hundreds of miles to get to the nearest clinic. And they should not have to endure invasions of privacy and violations of their autonomy.
A woman's decision to end a pregnancy is hers to make with her family, her faith, and her doctor. We will fight politicians who not only seek to shame, punish, or burden women for making these decisions, but also try to push care out of reach.