SCOTUS rejects Arkansas plea to revive Abortion regulation law

The Supreme Court of United States has rejected a plea seeking a writ of certiorari against the ruling by Court of Appeals which affirmed the District court view which had blocked the Abortion law of Arkansas State.

Before the District Court, Plaintiffs had challenged the constitutionality of Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Acts to the extent that, it prohibits all abortions, regardless of the method employed, where the pregnancy has progressed to twelve weeks and a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Court found that Court finds that prohibition of abortions at twelve weeks gestation, when a fetal heartbeat is detected, impermissibly infringes a woman's Fourteenth Amendment right to choose to terminate a pregnancy before viability.

In May, last year, the Court of Appeals had held thus “Whether or not “exceptions are made for particular circumstances, a State may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability. By banning abortions after 12 weeks’ gestation, the Act prohibits women from making the ultimate decision to terminate a pregnancy at a point before viability. Because the State made no attempt to refute the plaintiffs’ assertions of fact, the district court’s summary judgment order must be affirmed.”

On Appeal, the State of Arkansas contended that Advances in medical technology and medical care, specifically as they relate to pregnancy and childbirth, demonstrate that the viability rule is outdated and unnecessary to protect a woman’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy via abortion. The Supreme Court, however has refused to interfere in concurrent findings of the Courts below.