Arkansas 12-Week Ban Reflects Schism Within Anti-Choice Movement

The New York Times: Arkansas Adopts a Ban on Abortions After 12 Weeks, by Erik Eckholm:

Arkansas adopted what is by far the country’s most restrictive ban on abortion on Wednesday — at 12 weeks of pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat can typically be detected by abdominal ultrasound. . . .

Adoption of the law, called the Human Heartbeat Protection Act, is the first statewide victory for a restless emerging faction within the anti-abortion movement that has lost patience with the incremental whittling away at abortion rights — a strategy used by groups like National Right to Life and the Catholic Church while they wait for a more sympathetic Supreme Court.

“When is enough enough?” asked the bill’s sponsor in the legislature, Senator Jason Rapert . . . .

_______________________________________________________

For more on this divide in the movement, see my article, Roe v. Wade's 40th Anniversary: A Moment of Truth for the Anti-Abortion-Rights Movement?