A bill now heading to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson's desk will require women who want an abortion to call a dedicated hotline before they do so. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the state Senate on Thursday voted 28-5 to pass the "Every Mom Matters Act," House-backed legislation that, if signed by the Republican Hutchinson, would set up a toll-free hotline that would lay out available options for women if they choose to continue with their pregnancies. GOP Rep. Jim Dotson, the bill's sponsor, says it would cost about $1.2 million to $1.5 million to set up and fund the hotline, though the state's Department of Health says that number would be closer to $5 million. The bill calls for the hotline to be set up by 2023, and doctors who perform abortions but don't confirm a woman has reached out to the hotline beforehand could be fined $5,000.
"The idea with this is that you're empowering women in order to be able to make the choice to not have an abortion," GOP Sen. Bob Ballinger says, per the AP, agreeing with Dotson's goal of cutting down on the number of abortions in Arkansas. But critics are pushing back on that, noting the requirement is yet another roadblock for women's health care. "These continuing and demeaning attempts to shame people for their personal medical decisions and block them from care are backward motions that hurt Arkansans," the director of the Arkansas ACLU says in a statement. The bill doesn't include funding for either the DOH to set up the hotline, or for new or expanded programs meant to assist pregnant women or moms. (More abortion stories.)
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