The Latest: Arkansas, Utah pass 18-week abortion bans
Posted March 13, 2019 9:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Latest on legislation banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy (all times local):
11:10 p.m.
Lawmakers in Arkansas and Utah have sent their governors legislation banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, moving the states closer to enacting bans that could be among the strictest in the country.
In Arkansas, the House on Wednesday gave final approval by an 86-1 vote to the bill, which Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he supports.
Utah also passed an 18-week ban on Wednesday, sending it to Republican Gov. Gary Herbert. He hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it, though he has said he’s generally against abortion.
The 18-week bans would be the strictest in the country if enacted, though proposals to ban abortion earlier in a woman’s pregnancy are advancing in several other state legislatures.
Arkansas already bans abortion 20 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.
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2 p.m.
Arkansas lawmakers have sent the governor legislation banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, a prohibition that could be the strictest in the country.
The House on Wednesday gave final approval by an 86-1 vote to the bill, which Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he supports. Arkansas already bans abortion 20 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.
The House had approved an earlier version of the bill and on Wednesday backed an amendment adding exceptions for rape and incest. The ban would be the strictest in the country if enacted, though proposals to ban abortion earlier in a woman’s pregnancy are advancing in several other state legislatures. Another 18-week ban is pending in Utah’s legislature.
The Associated Press
