Rutledge certifies ban on abortion in Arkansas, exception for medical emergencies

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified Arkansas’ Trigger Abortion law Friday following the Supreme Court’s six to three decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

The trigger abortion law, which was created in 2019 in the event the Roe vs.

Wade would be overturned, states that abortion will be banned in the State of Arkansas except for in cases of a medical emergency.

“This decision essentially puts our pro-life laws in place and allows Arkansas to ban abortion with the only exception being to save the life of a mother, defined as a medical emergency,” Rutledge said during a news conference Friday.

The Arkansas law defines a medical emergency as an abortion that is “necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.”

This ban on abortion is effective immediately, and will only charge the individual who performs the abortion, not the mother.

“I will be directing the Arkansas Department of Health to enforce the law and to conduct the necessary inspections and notifications to ensure that any abortion provider is in compliance with the law and understands the penalties that are provided therein,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.

The penalty for the person performing the abortion according to the newly verified law is a fine that does not exceed $100,000 and/or imprisonment of up to ten years.

The law also states that it will not charge the woman seeking the abortion with any criminal offense and will not prohibit the use of contraceptives prior to the pregnancy being determined through “conventional medical testing.”

“I want to emphasise that we need, as a state and as a nation, to continue to support women who have unwanted pregnancies and, for some, see abortion as the only solution,” Hutchinson said. “That is the reason the legislature anticipated the need to provide $1 million to pregnancy centers across the state of Arkansas and also enacted the Every Mom Matters Act, that will allow those with pregnancies and questions to call and get information, to get assistance and to get help.” The law does not have an exemption for cases of rape or incest and Hutchinson said that while he has supported this exemption in the past, he does not plan on asking legislation to add that exemption.

Rutledge said that there are also currently no plans to pass any laws against Arkansas women going to other states where abortion is legal to seek one, and that, for now, Arkansas is just focusing on the laws already passed in the state and will only look at any additional changes to it in the future.

Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives Matthew Sheppard said he has not been a part of any conversations of introducing such laws. “As far as I’m concerned, the law is settled on this point,” he said.

As Rutledge was certifying the law Friday, protests from pro-choice activists were already happening outside the Arkansas capital.

“I understand that this will continue to be debated and protested across our country,” Hutchinson said.

“Well, that is the heart of our democracy.”

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Capital murder charge filed in prison shooting

A North Little Rock man who authorities say shot a Perry County detention officer while he was being booked into jail on Wednesday faces a charge of capital murder.

The charge was filed late Thursday against 37-yearold Roderick Deshawn Lewis.

The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division, which is investigating the incident, said Lewis shot 21-year-old Detention Officer Jeremiah Story as he stood in a bathroom where the inmate was changing out of civilian clothes into jail issued attire” around 10:20 p.m.

Wednesday inside the county jail at Perryville.

Story succumbed to his injuries at a Conway hospital early Thursday.

“The gun reportedly used by Lewis was one he possessed when he arrived at the jail in the custody of local sheriff’s deputies,” ASP spokesman Bill Sadler said. Lewis was being booked into Perry County Jail on drug and paraphernalia charges when the shooting occurred.

““A witness to the shooting was able to disarm Lewis, who was later transferred to the Faulkner County Detention Center at Conway while state police special agents continue their investigation,” Sadler said.

No bond amount or attorney for Lewis was given in online records as of Friday.

“Sheriff Ryals and all of us at Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office extend our hearts and prayers to the family, friends, and colleagues of Perry County Detention Officer Jeremiah Story, who was tragically killed in the line of duty last night,” the Faulkner County’s Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.