By Sesali B. • @BadFatBlackGirl • 11 years ago

Unlike abortion, the right to sue in Arkansas isn’t being threatened

Which is good news because reproductive justice advocates in Arkansas have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new ban on abortions past 12 weeks. The AP reports:

“The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of Dr. Louis Jerry Edwards and Dr. Tom Tvedten, who provide abortions at a Little Rock clinic, say Arkansas’ ban clearly contradicts the standard of viability established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision.”

Rita Sklar, executive director of Arkansas’ ACLU chapter, says:

“We are asking the court to block an attempt to essentially outlaw all abortions past 12 weeks, so early that a woman might not know the complete health and status of her pregnancy”

As usual, anti choice lawmakers and activists are so concerned with the potential life of unborn fetuses that they neglect the needs of people whose lives might actually be in danger, or who just don’t want to be pregnant, and shouldn’t have to be. In doing so, they are also playing doctor and scientist as they have taken it upon themselves to make decisions about when women should and should not terminate their pregnancies.

Arkansas’ 12-week ban is the second most extreme ban on abortions after the 6-week ban in North Dakota.

Feministing's resident "sexpert", Sesali is a published writer and professional shit talker. She is a queer Black girl, fat girl, and trainer. She was the former Training Director at the United States Student Association and later a member of the Youth Organizing team at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She received her bachelors in Women's and Gender Studies from Depaul University in 2012 and is currently pursuing a master's in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta. A self identified "trap" feminist, and trained with a reproductive justice background, her interests include the intersections of feminism and: pop culture, youth culture, social media, hip hop, girlhood, sexuality, race, gender, and Beyonce. Sesali joined the team in 2010 as one of the winners of our So You Think You Can Blog contest.

is Feministing's resident sexpert and cynic.

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