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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked Arkansas from enforcing four new abortion restrictions, including a ban on a common second trimester procedure and a fetal remains law that opponents say would effectively require a partner’s consent before a woman could get an abortion.



“The threatened harm to Dr. Hopkins and the fraction of women for whom the mandate is relevant clearly outweighs whatever damage or harm a proposed injunction may cause the State of Arkansas,” Baker wrote in her ruling.

The groups praised Baker’s ruling, saying the laws would have effectively banned abortion for many women.

“Arkansas women can feel a little relief today, knowing that these laws are blocked from taking effect,” Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said in a statement. “Instead of protecting women’s health, Arkansas politicians have passed laws that defy decency and reason just to make it difficult or impossible for a woman to get an abortion.”



Baker said there was no evidence contradicting the groups’ claims about the impact of complying with the tissue disposal requirements.


Baker also blocked part of a law set to take effect in January that would ban abortions based solely on the fetus’ sex. The groups challenged the law’s requirement that a doctor performing the abortion first request records related to the entire pregnancy history of the woman.

“It will cause women to forgo abortion in Arkansas rather than risk disclosure to medical providers who they know oppose abortion or who are family friends or neighbors,” Baker wrote.


The ruling came hours after a federal appeals court panel cleared the way for Arkansas to enforce a law that will limit how the abortion pill can be administered. The panel lifted Baker’s order blocking the 2015 law requiring doctors who provide such pills to maintain a contract with another physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital and who agrees to handle any complications. The state can’t enforce the abortion pill restrictions until the appeals panel’s ruling takes effect in about two or three weeks.
