title:  Arkansas Republicans Pass Bill Giving Rapists The Power To Stop Victims From Getting An Abortion
text: A vicious new law in Arkansas proves that Republicans are on the side of rapists.Two months ago, Republicans fast-tracked a brand new anti-abortion bill through the legislature and Governor Asa Hutchinson signed it last week.Arkansas Act 45 bans the most common and safest abortion procedure available to women known as dilation and evacuation, which is used for abortions performed during the second trimester. That means Arkansas Republicans are openly defying the framework set up by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade which says states can t interfere with a woman s right to choose until the fetus becomes viable. 50 percent viability rate is achieved at 24 to 25 weeks. But the new law would ban safe abortions after 14 weeks and creates a burden for women because it forces them to choose less safe options to end their pregnancies.Doctors who perform the abortion procedure would be charged with a felony that carries a $10,000 fine or six years in prison.But the bill also has a terrifying clause that rapists are going to love.The bill gives rapists the power to deny their victims an abortion if they sue the abortion provider.According to The Daily Beast,A clause in the Arkansas law allows a woman s spouse, parent or guardian, or health care provider to sue an abortion provider for civil damages or injunctive relief that could stop the abortion. And because Act 45 does not provide any exceptions for cases of rape or incest, the clause could allow the fetus s father to sue an abortion provider even in cases of spousal rape or incest.Some lawmakers, like Democratic state Senator Will Bond, had a problem with the bill because the way it is drafted seems to allow any family member of the pregnant woman to file a lawsuit to stop the abortion and could actually end up severely disabling women who are forced to choose a riskier abortion procedure. There is an injunctive relief section in the bill that, in my reading of it, would seem to allow litigation among family members. If one spouse sought injunctive relief to prevent a certain procedure, or possibly other family members have the possibility for injunctive relief, that was a concern of mine. There is an exception for women s health in the bill, but it required irreparable harm [to the point of] permanent disability of a woman. The way it was drafted, I had concerns that the women s health exception is way too narrow, and there s no exception for rape and incest. The fact that rapists have a new tool to use to torture their victims is totally unacceptable and demonstrates that Republicans are totally anti-woman.Of course, these kinds of bills have been blocked in other states, so it s likely this one will be blocked from going into effect as well. But women cannot rely on the courts to protects their rights. They need to vote and kick Republicans out of office if they truly want to guarantee that government will not try to dictate what decisions they make about their own bodies.Featured image via Woman Survival