Challenge to 'Especially Cruel' Arkansas Abortion Laws in Works

Abortion rights groups and legal advocates are gearing up for a court challenge against new Arkansas regulations that they say would, in part, ban a common abortion procedure and would require women to notify and get consent from their sexual partners or relatives before getting abortions.

Four measures set to go into effect later this month and early next year would place "severe and unwarranted burdens" on women's access to abortions, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement after the the lawsuit was filed.

"With this package of laws, we're definitely seeing a new, creative and especially cruel attempt by Arkansas to make abortion more difficult, if not impossible for women to access — and to stigmatize and demean them in the meantime," Hillary Schneller, a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told NBC News.

The challenge will play out in court on Thursday as the ACLU, the ACLU of Arkansas and the Center for Reproductive Rights will have a hearing for the federal lawsuit, which they filed last month.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/challenge-to-especially-cruel-arkansas-abortion-laws-in-works/ar-BBEfKxW?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp