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Hearing Set In Suit Over Arkansas 12-week Abortion Ban

Abortion Debate

A hearing is scheduled next month in a federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas' ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

A court document filed Thursday shows that a hearing is set for May 17 in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Reproductive Rights Center on behalf of two Arkansas doctors who perform abortions.

The lawsuit claims that the 12-week ban denies patients their constitutional right to end a pregnancy before the point of viability. It seeks to block the law from taking effect this summer and also asks the court to strike down the law completely.

The hearing next month in Little Rock is expected to focus on the immediate request to block the law from going into effect.