Arkansas abortion law defies womens rights, Constitution

Abortion has been ahighly-debated issue in America since the American Law Institute proposed the first code that states should follow whenenacting related laws in 1959.

Since the historic Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade in 1973, the issue has been shrouded in hostility over the specifications of state and federal laws,religious animosity and dissenting opinions regarding womens rights.

The most recent controversyrevolves around a bill being pushed through the Arkansaslegislature that would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion when a noticeable heartbeat can be detected on an ultrasound.

The bill, called the Human Heartbeat Protection Act (HHPA), was passed by the Republican majority in the Arkansas legislature. It is the strictest challenge to the Supreme Courts previous rulings on the matter.

Pushing this bill through the Arkansas legislature, including overriding Gov. Mike Beebes veto, is a clear representation of the unrelenting faction of religious anti-choicers who will do whatever they can tooverride the constitution to get what they want.

This bill, and many like it, show that the division of church and state has been trampled over to deny a womans right to do what she pleases with her body.

The issue of abortion revolves around one important facet or question that the U.S. has been arguing about for more than 50 years. It is possible we will never reach a consensus.

That facet is determining when, during a pregnancy, a fetus can be considered ahuman life.

In order for abortion to be considered illegal, anti-abortionists have to prove that a fetus is a life and not simply a collection of cells inside a womans womb.

Homicide, in any moral or ethical ideology, is wrong. But there is no way of determiningwhen a fetus should beconsidered alive. The Supreme Court verdict of Roe v. Wade determined, that life exists when the child could viably liveoutside of the womb around 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

What Arkansas is trying to do is overturn the Supreme Courts ruling to please the religiousrights anti-abortion agenda. This is the same party whochampioned ignorant rants about forced trans-vaginal ultrasounds, legitimate rape and compared abortion practices to Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust.

Bills like the HHPA blatantly disregard a womans Constitutional and reproductiverights and undermine the Supreme Courts unbiasedruling. It should not be allowed into law in any state.

Robert Scime is a seniormajoring in mass communications