House panel backs abortion- limits bill
Plan sets second- trimester bounds
A bill restricting use of the most common method of second- trimester abortions cleared a House committee Thursday, and abortion- rights advocates conceded that the measure is likely to pass in the Republican-majority Legislature.
Performing a dilation and evacuation procedure — referred to as “dismemberment abortion” in House Bill 1032 — in all but one circumstance would be considered a felony under the bill proposed by Rep. Andy Mayberry, R- Hensley. The bill would allow the procedure to be used to prevent a serious health risk for the mother. It does not provide exemptions in cases of rape
or incest.
The procedure is the most common abortion method used by Arkansas women between their 12th and 19th weeks of pregnancy, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
It was the only method of second- trimester abortions used during 2015, the last year for which statistics are available. That year, doctors terminated 638 pregnancies between the 12th and 19th weeks — 17 percent of the 3,771 abortions performed that year — according to the department’s
data. A different nonsurgical procedure has been used in previous years, and still will be available under the bill.
Third- trimester abortions are banned under state law.
Mayberry, who is the president of the abortion- opposing group Arkansas Right to Life, called dilation and evacuation “particularly barbaric, cruel and savage,” as he presented his bill to the House Public
Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Thursday.
“We’ve not stopped a single abortion if we pass this bill,” Mayberry said. Opponents argued that was misleading, saying the law would place a greater burden on women seeking abortions.
Victoria Leigh, a lawyer representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said the alternative procedure for a second- trimester abortion requires hospitalization and “increases the risk substantially for the woman.”
The committee, made up of 16 Republicans and four Democrats, approved the measure on a voice vote. A smattering of “nays” could be heard, but
those who said them were not identifiable.
Promising that a lawsuit will be filed if the bill becomes law, Leigh called the proposed ban “blatantly, facially unconstitutional.”
Similar restrictions have been passed in a handful of other states, but they have been held up by court challenges in Louisiana, Alabama and Kansas.
Leigh was one of two people who signed up to speak against the bill Thursday. A lobbyist from Right to Life planned to speak in favor of it. After the committee voted to limit debate to 5 minutes per side, Leigh used up all of the allotted time answering questions.
The second scheduled abortion- rights advocate speaker, Arkansas Planned Parenthood lobbyist Ashley Wright, said Leigh had hit the group’s talking points and she was not upset over the time limitations.
Rose Mimms, a lobbyist for Mayberry’s group, declined to speak after Mayberry talked. She later told reporters that she had nothing to add and knew that the bill had more than enough support in the committee.
Leigh told reporters that Mayberry’s measure is “likely to pass” in the Legislature.
In 2013, during a previous stint in the House, Mayberry
successfully sponsored a bill that enacts the state’s current ban on abortions after 20 weeks.
During the 2015 regular legislative session, lawmakers approved a 12- week limitation on abortions. The more restrictive measure later was overturned by a federal appeals court.
Mayberry’s measure is now up for consideration in the full House, which he said could happen as soon as Monday.