Arkansas’ majority-Republican Senate rejected a push Tuesday for an abortion ban modeled after Texas’ restrictive law, with abortion opponents divided about emulating their neighbor’s approach as they await a key ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Senate rejected resolutions that would have allowed lawmakers to take up legislation banning abortion except to save the life of a mother in a medical emergency. Like Texas’ ban, the measure would be enforced by private citizens filing lawsuits.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has signed several major abortion restrictions since taking office in 2015, has said lawmakers should wait and see how the Supreme Court rules on a 15-week ban in Mississippi. Justices have signaled that ruling, expected later this year, could overturn or weaken the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.