More Arkansans Believe Abortion Ought to Be Illegal: New Poll

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A poll released on Wednesday shows that 23% of Arkansans believe abortion ought to be completely illegal.

That’s up from 17% in 2018 according to the same poll.

The results were part of the Arkansas Poll conducted each year.

Pollsters asked Arkansans if they believed abortion ought to be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances.

The poll indicated that 24% of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion ought to be illegal in all circumstances, and 60% of likely voters believe abortion ought to legal only under certain circumstances.

Taken together, these numbers reveal that 84% of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion ought to be either completely illegal or legal only in certain cases.

On the whole 82% of Arkansans surveyed said abortion ought to be completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

Additionally, half of likely voters polled said it ought to be more difficult to get an abortion.

Year after year we have seen public opinion polling that shows Arkansans oppose abortion and are overwhelmingly pro-life.

This latest poll tracks with national surveys that show Americans generally believe abortion ought to be illegal in all but a few situations — such as in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

On the whole, Americans oppose abortion on demand, and Arkansans are no exception.

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Americans United for Life Urges Court to Uphold Arkansas’ Pro-Life Laws

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Last week the pro-life organization Americans United for Life announced that it filed an amicus brief in the case Hopkins v. Jegley urging the Eighth Circuit to uphold a group of pro-life laws from Arkansas.

In August a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court ruling against four pro-life laws the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2017.

In response, the ACLU appealed to the entire Eighth Circuit to have the laws blocked once again.

The pro-life laws in question are:

  • Act 45 of 2017 (Dismemberment Abortion): Act 45 prohibits certain abortion procedures — such as D&E abortion procedures — in which a living unborn baby is dismembered.
  • Act 733 of 2017 (Sex-Selection Abortion): Act 733 prohibits abortions performed due to the baby’s sex. It contains a provision requiring the doctor to request the pregnant woman’s medical records pertaining to her pregnancy history before performing the abortion. The ACLU specifically challenged the portion of the law requiring the abortionist to request a woman’s medical records.
  • Act 1018 of 2017 (Reporting Requirements): Act 1018 requires abortions performed on any girl under the age of 17 to be reported to the State Crime Lab in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault.
  • Act 603 of 2017 (Prohibiting Buying and Selling of Aborted Babies): Act 603 prohibits biomedical and behavioral research on aborted fetal remains, and it requires aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009. This bill helps prevent abortionists from selling organs and tissue harvested from the bodies of aborted babies.

The amicus brief Americans United for Life filed earlier this month argues that the three-judge panel was correct to unblock the laws and encourages the Eighth Circuit to deny the ACLU’s request for a rehearing in the case.

You can read the amicus brief from Americans United for Life here.

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