<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Roe v. Wade, which turned 40 this year, granted women the right to an abortion &amp;quot;free of interference by the State.&amp;quot; Evidently the Arkansas legislature missed that key part of the Supreme Court ruling, because the state passed the nation&amp;#039;s strictest assault on women&amp;#039;s reproductive rights today, banning abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy.  It&amp;#039;s a clear slap to Supreme Court decisions, including Roe v. Wade, which allow abortions up to the point that a fetus would be viable outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks. The &amp;quot;Human Heartbeat Protection Act&amp;quot; (named after the approximate point in pregnancy when a fetal heartbeat can be detected), can block women from getting abortions during the first trimester.  The Arkansas ban is so controversial, The New York Times accurately points out that it may be swiftly voided. &amp;quot;Dear Arkansas: I&amp;#039;ll bet you are thrilled that your lawmakers just passed a clearly unconstitutional bill that you have to pay to fight,&amp;quot; tweeted The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead shortly after the news was announced. Even the process of passing the ban was filled with strife: Arkansas&amp;#039; Republican-led legislature signed it into law by overriding the veto of Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat. (We can only imagine what Bill and Hillary Clinton, longtime Arkansanians, think about this.) As for Planned Parenthood? &amp;quot;We are deeply disappointed that the Arkansas legislature voted to impose the most restrictive ban on safe and legal abortion in the country,&amp;quot; the organization said in a statement. &amp;quot;Governor Beebe rightfully vetoed this legislation and the legislature would have been wise to let the veto stand as this bill is clearly unconstitutional.&amp;quot; We don&amp;#039;t have to tell you that it&amp;#039;s disturbing to see a state even attempt to chip away at the reproductive rights granted to women by the High Court of our country. But that doesn&amp;#039;t stop it from happening. As Planned Parenthood notes, &amp;quot;43 provisions were passed in 19 states last year to restrict access to abortion.&amp;quot; How to make it stop? Get involved.  Protest photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/people/cecooper/ Want more from Michelle? Follow her on Twitter @MichelleRuiz. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a11954/arkansas-abortion-law/?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1440_7204273>