Federal judge blocks Arkansas law banning most abortions

A federal judge has blocked an Arkansas law banning nearly all abortions from taking effect this month

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A federal judge on Tuesday blocked an Arkansas law banning nearly all abortions in the state while she hears a challenge to its constitutionality. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law, which was set to take effect on July 28. The measure was passed this year by the majority-Republican Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The ban allows the procedure to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency and does not provide exceptions for those impregnated in an act of rape or incest. Baker called the law “categorically unconstitutional" since it would ban the procedure before the fetus is considered viable.