Reproductive Politics

The Arkansas legislature is poised to enact a restrictive abortion law, over the veto of its governor, that is drawing strong condemnation from the pro-choice activists and politicians. The law is 100% guaranteed to be held unconstitutional under Roe and Casey , but it is worth examining anyway. The law would generally permit abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy. After 12 weeks, abortions would be generally banned, with a number of exceptions: threats to the life of the mother, pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest, and "highly lethal fetal disorders" ( New York Times ). A separate legislative proposal would generally ban abortions after 20 weeks, with life, rape, and incest exceptions, but not a fetal disorder exception. Observations: First, the two proposed laws are attempting to peg their 'cut points'-- 12 weeks and 20 weeks-- on the ability of technicians to detect a fetus' heartbeat by abdominal ultrasound (at 12 weeks), and the asser