Supreme Court rejects case defending Arkansas abortion limits

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit this week that would have resurrected an Arkansas law prohibiting abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy if the abortionist detected the baby’s heartbeat.

Per its custom, the court did not issue any comment about the denial. In 2014, U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled the law was unconstitutional because it limited abortion based on fetal heartbeat rather than the viability standard established with Roe v. Wade. The infamous 1973 decision made abortion legal until a baby is considered viable outside the womb, at about 22-24 weeks of gestation.

Last year, a federal appeals court panel upheld Wright’s decision. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge then appealed to the Supreme Court.

“The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act was passed by the elected legislators of this state and was a reasonable way to protect the lives of more unborn children,” Rutledge said. She urged the Supreme Court to update the current doctrine to reflect states’ rights in protecting the unborn.

Nancy Northrup, president of the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights, claimed the law violated women’s rights.

“Arkansas politicians cannot pick and choose which parts of the Constitution they want to uphold,” she said. “The Supreme Court has never wavered in affirming that every woman has a right to safely and legally end a pregnancy in the U.S.”

Arkansas legislators passed the bill in 2013, but then-Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, vetoed it. The Republican-controlled legislature overrode him.

Though Wright struck down the 12-week ban, she did maintain the requirement that abortionists check for the baby’s heartbeat and notify the mother if one exists.

“I am satisfied that we fought the good fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and can say with confidence that we did all we could do in this battle,”said Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert, the sponsor of the bill.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.