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Here’s a glance at what some state legislatures are doing on abortion

Staff Photo by Doug Strickland /
Ultrasound technician Ashley Durham, left, performs an ultrasound on Courtney Smith, who is pregnant with her first child, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, at Galen Medical Group in Chattanooga, Tenn. — Staff Photo by Doug Strickland / Ultrasound technician Ashley Durham, left, performs an ultrasound on Courtney Smith, who is pregnant with her first child, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, at Galen Medical Group in Chattanooga, Tenn. Staff Photo by Doug Strickland / Ultrasound technician Ashley Durham, left, performs an ultrasound on Courtney Smith, who is pregnant with her first child, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, at Galen Medical Group in Chattanooga, Tenn.

By Associated Press March 21, 2019 7 min read

Mississippi’s governor signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country on Thursday. The bill outlaws abortions after the heartbeat of a fetus can be detected, around roughly the sixth week of a pregnancy. The ban is set to take effect on July 1, but abortion-rights advocates have already pledged to file lawsuits to stop it.

Actions taken on abortion by legislatures across the United States:

ARKANSAS

The Republican majority in the Arkansas Legislature has passed several bills restricting abortion this session.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law one proposal banning most abortions 18 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, and another bill that would ban abortion altogether if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its Roe v. Wade ruling.