Use our account feature to register for a free CLI account. Your new account will allow you to bookmark and organize articles and research for easy reference later - making it simple to keep track of the research that's important to you!
Register / Sign in
close-panel

Charlotte Lozier Institute

Phone: 202-223-8073
Fax: 571-312-0544

2776 S. Arlington Mill Dr.
#803
Arlington, VA 22206

Get Notifications

Sign up to receive email updates from Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Become A Defender of Life

Your donation helps us continue to provide world-class research in defense of life.

DONATE

Charlotte Lozier Institute

Phone: 202-223-8073
Fax: 571-312-0544

2776 S. Arlington Mill Dr.
#803
Arlington, VA 22206

Life & the LawAbortion

Federal Court Upholds Arkansas Heartbeat Testing Requirement

On Friday a federal district court in Arkansas upheld the Arkansas heartbeat testing requirement. The heartbeat testing requirement provides that abortions in Arkansas shall not be performed before testing whether the unborn child possesses a detectible heartbeat.

 

The district court also upheld a related disclosure requirement. If a heartbeat is detected then the mother must be informed that her unborn child possesses a heartbeat.

 

The district court explained that “the Supreme Court has recognized that the disclosure of truthful information about fetal development is relevant to a woman’s decision-making process and is rationally related to the State’s interest in protecting the unborn.”

 

The Arkansas heartbeat testing and disclosure requirements were enacted in 2013 as part of the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act.

 

That law also included a ban on certain abortions. Subject to certain exceptions, the law banned abortions when the unborn child possesses a detectable heartbeat and has reached 12 weeks of gestation.

 

The district court struck down this part of the Arkansas law. The court cited U.S. Supreme Court precedent regarding viability of the unborn child as the point when the government may prohibit abortion in some cases. This rule is often called the “viability rule.”

 

Viability is not a precise event but usually occurs, in the current state of medical development, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Arkansas heartbeat law banned abortions at 12 weeks when a heartbeat was detected. Therefore, the district court ruled that the law violated Supreme Court precedent.

 

But the district court did not strike down the entire law. In addition to striking down the 12-week ban, the district court struck down a provision requiring revocation of a medical license of a physician who violated that ban, and a provision requiring a physician to notify a pregnant woman about the 12-week ban.

 

However, the district court held that “[a]ll remaining provisions of the Act remain in effect.” Therefore, Arkansas may still require testing for a heartbeat before performing abortion and, when a heartbeat is detected, require disclosure to the mother that her unborn child possesses a heartbeat.

 

This ruling is a victory for advocates seeking to protect unborn children by requiring that mothers considering abortion be informed if their unborn babies possess a heartbeat.

 

However, the ruling should also place renewed focus on the Supreme Court’s “viability rule.” Subject to dispute, the viability rule is often interpreted as a bright line prohibition on any law that would restrict abortion on demand before 24 weeks of pregnancy.

 

Such a standard is extreme compared with the abortion standards of many countries. A recent report published by the Charlotte Lozier Institute finds that, of 198 countries, independent states, and semi-autonomous regions with populations exceeding one million, “59 allow abortion without restriction as to reason, otherwise known as elective abortion or abortion on demand.” Of the 59 countries that permit abortion on demand, more than 75% “do not permit elective abortions past 12 weeks gestation.” Further, “the United States is one of only seven countries in the world that permit elective abortion past 20 weeks.”

 

The Lozier report explains that “[t]he United States is within the top 4% of most-permissive abortion policies in the world (7 out of 198) when analyzing restrictions on elective abortion based on duration of pregnancy.”

 

Ultimately, clarifying the meaning of the viability rule, or modifying it or abandoning it altogether, will likely require a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which invented the rule in 1973.

 

Thomas Messner is a Legal Policy Fellow at the Charlotte Lozier Institute in Washington, D.C.

 

Latest Posts

March 25, 2024 Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in Idaho’s Moyle v. United States EMTALA Case March 22, 2024 Fact Sheet: Three Problems with the FDA’s Abortion Drugs Complications Data March 21, 2024 Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

You Might Also Be Interested In

Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in Idaho’s Moyle v. United States EMTALA Case

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 25, 2024
ClosePlease login

Filed: CLI Amicus Brief in SCOTUS Case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 21, 2024
ClosePlease login
Filed Brief: Zurawski v. Texas and Reasonable Medical Judgment

Filed Brief: Zurawski v. Texas and Reasonable Medical Judgment

charlotte-lozier-institute Charlotte Lozier Institute
March 11, 2024
ClosePlease login

Become A Defender of Life

Your donation helps us continue to provide
world-class research in defense of life.

BECOME A PARTNER
cta-image