LITTLE ROCK — Not content with enacting the most restrictive abortion law in the country, Arkansas Republicans plan to press the legislative advantage their party hasn’t enjoyed since Reconstruction by making it even more difficult for women to get abortions in the state.
The GOP-controlled Legislature on Wednesday overrode Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill banning nearly all abortions beginning in the 12th week of pregnancy, when a fetus’ heartbeat can typically be detected through an abdominal ultrasound. That law wouldn’t take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends in a month or so, but the Legislature last week overrode a veto of a near-ban on abortions starting in the 20th week. That law took effect immediately.
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