1 State of Arkansas
2 93rd General Assembly
3 Fiscal Session, 2022 HR 1012
4
5 By: Representative Payton
6
7 HOUSE RESOLUTION
8 TO AUTHORIZE THE INTRODUCTION OF A NONAPPROPRIATION
9 BILL TO IMPLEMENT THE ARKANSAS HUMAN HEARTBEAT AND
10 HUMAN LIFE CIVIL JUSTICE ACT, REGULATE ABORTION IN
11 ARKANSAS, AND SAVE THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN AND
12 PROTECT THE HEALTH OF WOMEN THROUGH CIVIL LIABILITY
13 FOR VIOLATIONS OF ABORTION LAWS.
14
15
16 Subtitle
17 TO AUTHORIZE THE INTRODUCTION OF A
18 NONAPPROPRIATION BILL TO IMPLEMENT THE
19 ARKANSAS HUMAN HEARTBEAT AND HUMAN LIFE
20 CIVIL JUSTICE ACT TO SAVE THE LIVES OF
21 UNBORN CHILDREN AND PROTECT THE HEALTH OF
22 WOMEN THROUGH CIVIL LIABILITY.
23
24
25 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
26 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
27
28 THAT Representative Payton is authorized to introduce a bill which as
29 introduced will read substantially as follows:
30
31 "Title
32 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS HUMAN HEARTBEAT AND HUMAN LIFE CIVIL JUSTICE
33 ACT; TO REGULATE ABORTION IN ARKANSAS; TO SAVE THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN
34 AND PROTECT THE HEALTH OF WOMEN THROUGH CIVIL LIABILITY FOR VIOLATIONS OF
35 ABORTION LAWS; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
36
*MBM244* 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 Subtitle
2 TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS HUMAN HEARTBEAT AND HUMAN LIFE CIVIL JUSTICE ACT;
3 TO SAVE THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN AND PROTECT THE HEALTH OF WOMEN THROUGH
4 CIVIL LIABILITY; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
5
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
7
8 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 16, is amended to add an
9 additional subchapter to read as follows:
10 Subchapter 26 Arkansas Human Heartbeat and Human Life Civil Justice Act
11
12 20-16-2601. Title.
13 This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Arkansas Human
14 Heartbeat and Human Life Civil Justice Act".
15
16 20-16-2602. Legislative findings.
17 (a) The General Assembly finds that:
18 (1) It is time for the United States Supreme Court to redress
19 and correct the grave injustice against humanity which is being perpetuated
20 by its decisions in Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Planned Parenthood v.
21 Casey;
22 (2) The United States Supreme Court committed a grave injustice
23 against humanity in the Dred Scott decision by denying personhood to a class
24 of human beings, African Americans;
25 (3) The United States Supreme Court also committed a grave
26 injustice against humanity by upholding the separate but equal doctrine in
27 Plessy v. Ferguson, which withdrew legal protection from a class of human
28 beings who were persons under the United States Constitution, African
29 Americans;
30 (4) An injustice against humanity occurs when a government
31 withdraws legal protection from a class of human beings, resulting in severe
32 deprivation of their rights, up to and including death;
33 (5) In Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme
34 Court corrected its own grave injustice against humanity created in Plessy v.
35 Ferguson by overruling and abolishing the fifty-eight-year-old separate but
36 equal doctrine, thus giving equal legal rights to African Americans;
2 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 (6) Under the doctrine of stare decisis, the three (3) abortion
2 cases mentioned in subdivision (a)(1) of this section meet the test for when
3 a case should be overturned by the United States Supreme Court because of
4 significant changes in facts or laws, including without limitation the
5 following:
6 (A) The cases have not been accepted by scholars, judges,
7 and the American people, evidenced by the fact that these cases are still the
8 most intensely controversial cases in American history and at the present
9 time;
10 (B) New scientific advances have demonstrated since 1973
11 that life begins at the moment of conception and that the child in a woman's
12 womb is a human being;
13 (C) Scientific evidence and personal testimonies document
14 the massive harm that abortion causes to women;
15 (D) The laws in all fifty (50) states have now changed
16 through Safe Haven laws to eliminate all burdens of child care from women
17 who do not want to care for a child; and
18 (E) Public attitudes favoring adoption have created a
19 culture of adoption in the United States, with many families waiting long
20 periods of time to adopt newborn infants;
21 (7) Before the United States Supreme Court decision of Roe v.
22 Wade, Arkansas had already enacted prohibitions on abortions under 5-61-101
23 et seq., and authorized the refusal to perform, participate, consent, or
24 submit to an abortion under 20-16-601;
25 (8) Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 68, states that "[t]he
26 policy of Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child from
27 conception until birth" and that "no public funds will be used to pay for any
28 abortion, except to save the mother's life";
29 (9) Arkansas passed the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act,
30 20-16-1301 et seq., in 2013, which shows the will of the Arkansas people to
31 save the lives of unborn children;
32 (10) Arkansas has continued to pass additional legislation in
33 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021 that further shows the will of the Arkansas people
34 to save the lives of unborn children;
35 (11)(A) Since the decision of Roe v. Wade, approximately sixty-
36 two million five hundred two thousand nine hundred four (62,502,904)
3 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 abortions have ended the lives of unborn children.
2 (B) In 2015, six hundred thirty-eight thousand one hundred
3 sixty-nine (638,169) legal induced abortions were reported to the Centers for
4 Disease Control and Prevention from forty-nine (49) reporting areas in the
5 United States.
6 (C) The Department of Health reports that two thousand
7 nine hundred sixty-three (2,963) abortions took place in Arkansas during
8 2019, including abortions performed on out-of-state residents;
9 (12) Arkansas has a compelling interest from the outset of a
10 woman's pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and life of an unborn
11 child; and
12 (13) The State of Arkansas urgently pleads with the United
13 States Supreme Court to do the right thing, as they did in one of the United
14 States Supreme Court's greatest cases, Brown v. Board of Education, which
15 overturned a fifty-eight-year-old precedent of the United States, and
16 reverse, cancel, overturn, and annul Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Planned
17 Parenthood v. Casey.
18 (b) It is the intent of this subchapter to ensure that abortion in
19 Arkansas is abolished and to establish civil liability for the violation of
20 abortion laws in order to protect the lives of unborn children.
21
22 20-16-2603. Definitions.
23 As used in this subchapter:
24 (1)(A) Abortion means the act of using, prescribing,
25 administering, procuring, or selling of any instrument, medicine, drug, or
26 any other substance, device, or means with the purpose to terminate the
27 pregnancy of a woman, with knowledge that the termination by any of those
28 means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of an unborn child.
29 (B) An act under subdivision (1)(A) of this section is not
30 an abortion if the act is performed with the purpose to:
31 (i) Save the life or preserve the health of the
32 unborn child;
33 (ii) Remove a dead unborn child caused by
34 spontaneous abortion; or
35 (iii) Remove an ectopic pregnancy;
36 (2) "Entity" means a corporation, partnership, limited liability
4 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 company, association, joint venture, public corporation, any other legal or
2 commercial entity, fiduciary, or any organized group of persons whether
3 incorporated or not, including without limitation a church or religious
4 organization;
5 (3) Fertilization means the fusion of a human spermatozoon
6 with a human ovum;
7 (4) Medical emergency means a condition in which an abortion
8 is necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is
9 endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury,
10 including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the
11 pregnancy itself; and
12 (5) Unborn child means an individual organism of the species
13 Homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.
14
15 20-16-2604. Prohibition.
16 (a) A person or entity shall not purposely perform or attempt to
17 perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical
18 emergency.
19 (b) This section does not:
20 (1) Authorize the charging or conviction of a woman with any
21 criminal offense in the death of her own unborn child;
22 (2) Permit a civil liability to be assessed against a woman upon
23 whom an abortion is performed in violation of this subchapter; or
24 (3) Prohibit the sale, use, prescription, or administration of a
25 contraceptive measure, drug, or chemical if the contraceptive measure, drug,
26 or chemical is administered before the time when a pregnancy could be
27 determined through conventional medical testing and if the contraceptive
28 measure, drug, or chemical is sold, used, prescribed, or administered in
29 accordance with manufacturer instructions.
30 (c) It is an affirmative defense under this section if a licensed
31 physician provides medical treatment to a pregnant woman that results in the
32 accidental or unintentional physical injury or death to the unborn child.
33
34 20-16-2605. Exemption for preemption and intergovernmental immunity.
35 The prohibition in 20-16-2604 shall not apply to an abortion
36 performed at the behest of federal agencies, contractors, or employees that
5 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 are carrying out duties under federal law, if the prohibition on the abortion
2 would violate the doctrines of preemption or intergovernmental immunity.
3
4 20-16-2606. Limitation on public enforcement.
5 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of this subchapter
6 shall be enforced exclusively through the private civil actions described in
7 20-16-2607.
8 (b) A direct or indirect enforcement of this subchapter may not be
9 taken or threatened by the state, a political subdivision, a district or
10 county attorney, or an executive or administrative officer or employee of
11 this state or a political subdivision against any person or entity.
12 (c) A violation of this subchapter may not be used to justify or
13 trigger the enforcement of any other law, except as provided in 20-16-2607.
14
15 20-16-2607. Civil liability.
16 (a) Any person or entity, other than the state, a political
17 subdivision of the state, or an officer or employee of a state or local
18 governmental entity in this state, may bring a civil action against any
19 person or entity who:
20 (1) Performs or induces an abortion in violation of this
21 subchapter;
22 (2) Knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the
23 performance or inducement of an abortion, including paying for or reimbursing
24 the costs of an abortion through insurance or otherwise, if the abortion is
25 performed or induced in violation of this subchapter, regardless of whether
26 the person or entity knew or should have known that the abortion would be
27 performed or induced in violation of this subchapter; or
28 (3) Intends to engage in the conduct described in subdivision
29 (a)(1) of this section or subdivision (a)(2) of this section.
30 (b) If a claimant prevails in an action brought under this section,
31 the court shall award:
32 (1) Injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from
33 violating this subchapter or engaging in acts that aid or abet violations of
34 this subchapter;
35 (2) Statutory damages in an amount of not less than ten thousand
36 dollars ($10,000) for each abortion that the defendant performed or induced
6 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 in violation of this subchapter, and for each abortion performed or induced
2 or aided or abetted in violation of this subchapter;
3 (3) Nominal and compensatory damages if the plaintiff has
4 suffered harm from the defendant's conduct, including without limitation loss
5 of consortium and emotional distress; and
6 (4) Costs and attorney's fees.
7 (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a court may not
8 award relief under this section in response to a violation of subdivision
9 (a)(1) of this section or subdivision (a)(2) of this section if the defendant
10 demonstrates that the defendant previously paid the full amount of statutory
11 damages under subdivision (b)(2) of this section in a previous action for
12 that particular violation of this subchapter, or for the particular conduct
13 that aided or abetted an abortion performed or induced in violation of this
14 subchapter.
15 (d) Notwithstanding any other law, a person or entity may bring an
16 action under this section not later than the third anniversary after the date
17 the cause of action accrues.
18 (e) Notwithstanding any other law, the following are not a defense to
19 an action brought under this section:
20 (1) Ignorance or mistake of law;
21 (2) A defendant's belief that the requirements or provisions of
22 this subchapter are or were unconstitutional;
23 (3) A defendant's reliance on any court decision that has been
24 overruled on appeal or by a subsequent court, even if that court decision has
25 not been overruled when the defendant violated this subchapter;
26 (4) A defendant's reliance on any state or federal court
27 decision that is not binding on the court in which the action has been
28 brought;
29 (5) Nonmutual issue preclusion or nonmutual claim preclusion;
30 (6) The consent of the unborn child's mother to the abortion; or
31 (7) Any claim that the enforcement of this subchapter or the
32 imposition of civil liability against the defendant will violate the
33 constitutional rights of third parties, except as provided by 20-16-2608.
34 (f)(1) It is an affirmative defense if:
35 (A) A person or entity sued under subdivision (a)(2) of
36 this section reasonably believed, after conducting a reasonable
7 2/14/2022 8:25:54 AM MBM244
 HR1012
1 investigation, that the person or entity performing or inducing the abortion
2 had complied or would comply with every requirement and provision of this
3 subchapter; or
4 (B) A person or entity sued under subdivision (a)(3) of
5 this section reasonably believed, after conducting a reasonable
6 investigation, that the person or entity performing or inducing the abortion
7 would comply with every requirement and provision of this subchapter.
8 (2) The defendant has the burden of proving an affirmative
9 defense under subdivision (f)(1)(A) of this section or subdivision (f)(1)(B)
10 of this section by a preponderance of the evidence.
11 (g) This section does not impose liability on any speech or conduct
12 protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as made
13 applicable to the states through the United States Supreme Court's
14 interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,
15 or by Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, 6.
16 (h)(1) Notwithstanding any other law, neither the state, nor any of
17