Browse Arkansas Code titles and sections
20-16-1303. Testing for heartbeat.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-16-1303. Testing for heartbeat.
(a) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before the person tests the pregnant woman to determine whether the fetus that the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a detectible heartbeat.
(b)(1) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall perform an abdominal ultrasound test necessary to detect a heartbeat of an unborn human individual according to standard medical practice, including the use of medical devices as determined by standard medical practice.
(2) Tests performed under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be approved by the Arkansas State Medical Board.
(c) The Arkansas State Medical Board shall adopt rules:
(1)(A) Based on standard medical practice for testing for the fetal heartbeat of an unborn human individual.
(B) Rules adopted under this subsection shall specify that a test for fetal heartbeat is not required in the case of a medical emergency; and
(2) To define, based on available medical evidence, the statistical probability of bringing an unborn human individual to term based on the gestational age of the unborn human individual possessing a detectible heartbeat.
(d) If a fetal heartbeat is detected during the test required under this section, the person performing the test shall inform the pregnant woman in writing:
(1) That the unborn human individual that the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a heartbeat;
(2) Of the statistical probability of bringing the unborn human individual to term based on the gestational age of the unborn human individual possessing a detectible heartbeat; and
(3) An abortion is prohibited under § 20-16-1304.
(e) If a heartbeat has been detected, the pregnant woman sha
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-16-1303
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Record provenance
Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:20-16-1303
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.20.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 98bc584df933e37b3e7ca25d09e198fb8d0695b9d3d1ab3b71cc140140d4d2df
Source location: content.xml paragraph 13624
Stored source content
20-16-1303. Testing for heartbeat.
(a) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman before the person tests the pregnant woman to determine whether the fetus that the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a detectible heartbeat.
(b)(1) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall perform an abdominal ultrasound test necessary to detect a heartbeat of an unborn human individual according to standard medical practice, including the use of medical devices as determined by standard medical practice.
(2) Tests performed under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be approved by the Arkansas State Medical Board.
(c) The Arkansas State Medical Board shall adopt rules:
(1)(A) Based on standard medical practice for testing for the fetal heartbeat of an unborn human individual.
(B) Rules adopted under this subsection shall specify that a test for fetal heartbeat is not required in the case of a medical emergency; and
(2) To define, based on available medical evidence, the statistical probability of bringing an unborn human individual to term based on the gestational age of the unborn human individual possessing a detectible heartbeat.
(d) If a fetal heartbeat is detected during the test required under this section, the person performing the test shall inform the pregnant woman in writing:
(1) That the unborn human individual that the pregnant woman is carrying possesses a heartbeat;
(2) Of the statistical probability of bringing the unborn human individual to term based on the gestational age of the unborn human individual possessing a detectible heartbeat; and
(3) An abortion is prohibited under § 20-16-1304.
(e) If a heartbeat has been detected, the pregnant woman shall sign a form acknowledging that she has received the information required under subsection (d) of this section.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-16-1304. Prohibitions.
(a) A person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law shall not perform an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human individual whose heartbeat has been detected under § 20-16-1303 and is twelve (12) weeks or greater gestation.
(b) A violation of this section as determined by the Arkansas State Medical Board shall result in the revocation of the medical license of the person authorized to perform abortions under Arkansas law.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-16-1304
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 20-16-1304. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.