Lawsuit filed challenging Arkansas' near-total abortion ban

Abortion rights supporters are suing Arkansas to challenge the state’s near-total ban on the procedure

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Abortion rights supporters on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' near-total ban on the procedure that's part of an effort by conservatives to force the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Roe v. Wade decision. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planed Parenthood asked a federal judge to strike down the new law, which takes effect July 28, and bans all abortions except those to protect the life of the mother. The groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of Little Rock Family Planning Services, a Little Rock abortion clinic, and Planned Parenthood's Little Rock health center. The groups are also representing a doctor who works at the Planned Parenthood clinic. “Absent an order from this Court, plaintiffs will be forced to turn away patients seeking abortion care as of that date," the lawsuit said. “This will inflict immediate and irreparable harm upon plaintiffs’ patients by blatantly violating their constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, threatening their health and well-being, and forcing them to continue their pregnancies against their will."