Vox Sentences - The GOP’s war on abortion

Republicans are pushing state-level abortion bans; an independent review finds China guilty of genocide against its Uyghur population.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

• On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a bill that would ban all abortions, including in the case of rape or incest, except in instances where the mother’s life is at stake. It’s one of 14 states where Republicans are pushing near-total abortion bans. [AP / Andrew DeMillo]
• Similar bills have been struck down by lower courts in Ohio, Georgia, and Alabama for running afoul of the US Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision. But with a new 6-3 conservative majority on the Court, Hutchinson said his goal is to bring the case to the Court in hopes of a new anti-abortion ruling. [NPR / Jaclyn Diaz]
• Hutchinson acknowledged that the bill contradicts Supreme Court precedent and said he had concerns about the lack of exception for rape and incest, but signed it anyway. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood have condemned the bill, with the ACLU promising to take it to court. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / John Moritz]
• The Arkansas bill is the first near-total ban to pass this year, though similar bills have been introduced in other states and South Carolina passed a bill banning abortions once a heartbeat is detected via ultrasound, with exceptions for rape and incest. [CNN / Chris Cillizza]
• Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio have also seen abortion restriction laws successfully passed — and then held up in court. [Al Jazeera]
• Every spring, Republican state legislators introduce anti-abortion bills in the hopes that court challenges will make their way up to the Supreme Court. But the bills this year have been particularly aggressive, attempting to ban or criminalize abortion rather than restrict it. [Guardian / Jessica Glenza]
• Abortion rights advocates have already faced challenges in red states, where restrictive bills and federal policies have made setting up an adequate number of clinics or offering affordable reproductive health services challenging. Without Roe, they fear red states could become “abortion wastelands” where people need to cross state lines to get access. [Vox / Anna North]
• Experts say Arkansas’s law is a direct message to the Supreme Court’s newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett. Conservatives believe that even if Chief Justice John Roberts sides with the liberals on abortion, she could be the critical fifth vote. [Slate / Mark Joseph Stern]