The Daily Beast reports on the experience of a couple in Texas victimized by that state’s ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Arkansas has the same law. It is certainly unconstitutional. But it has not been challenged because it requires a person facing this tragedy to turn to a lawyer at an awful time. The Daily Beast article:
Daniel and Taylor Mahaffey were 20 weeks pregnant and desperately wanted their child, but when doctors informed them a complication meant the fetus had no chance of survival, they just wanted their baby’s suffering to end. Yet because of their state’s “fetal pain” law, the married Texans say they were forced to endure a stillbirth and wait as their baby slowly died in utero.
It took four days. The details are horrifying. Please remember them the next time the sanctimonious haters at the Family Council say they don’t believe in punishing women. The statutes are full of acts punishing women.
The Arkansas legislature that passed our 20-week ban can’t claim ignorance. They were told a very similar — and similarly tragic — story before romping this anti-woman bill through the legislature.