LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas House has approved a bill that would ban abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and another to prohibit insurers in the exchange created under the federal health care law from covering the procedure.
The House voted 75-20 to approve legislation that would ban abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the notion that a fetus is capable of feeling pain at that point. The proposal includes some exemptions for the medical health of the mother but not for rape and incest.
The House also backed legislation that would ban insurance coverage for abortions in the health insurance exchange. The measure passed on a 77-15 vote and includes exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Both measures now head to a Senate committee.
