Rapert wary heartbeat rules not implemented Emails to Health Department, Medical Board demand proof

[LiberalArkie]

RAPERT: Claimed that thousands of abortions happened because state Medical Board failed to implement rules related to legislation he passed

A federal judge stilled the heart of state Sen. Jason Rapert's legislation in 2014 that would have made abortion illegal at 12 weeks gestation (the so-called Human Heartbeat Protection Act), ruling that the 12-week limit was unconstitutional. But Judge Susan Webber Wright did not strike down language in the bill that requires pregnant women seeking an abortion to be informed in writing that a fetus has a heartbeat and provided the probability that the fetus will survive to term based on gestational age.

Rapert, R-Conway, has since July been writing the state Health Department and the state Medical Board demanding proof that the heartbeat information is being provided to women seeking an abortion. In the emails, Rapert accuses the state Medical Board of "dragging their feet" writing rules required by the act on heartbeat testing and thereby causing thousands of abortions and asks that the Health Department provide him copies of forms signed by women — their names redacted — seeking an abortion.

There are only three abortion providers in Arkansas, and only one of those performs surgical abortions. Planned Parenthood, with clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville, offers medicinal abortions.

The law only requires women to sign saying they've been provided information; it does not require the ultimate decision the woman makes after signing the form. Were Rapert to receive the information he requested, he would not be able to determine whether the women decided to have an abortion or not, but only the names of the providers.

Snip

Read More at Arkansas Times


Note: Read the article and then the comments from fellow readers.

[uppityperson]

1. Rec for readers recognizing him for the fool he is