An Arkansas Senate panel advanced legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade by banning nearly all abortions.
The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee passed the bill banning all abortions except for those to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
Arkansas is one of 10 states where outright abortion bans have been proposed this year, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Alabama enacted a near-total ban on abortions in 2019 that’s been blocked because of court challenges.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jason Rapert, will now head to the full Senate for a vote.