Arkansas

A federal judge struck down an Arkansas law banning most abortions starting at 12 weeks of pregnancy, if a fetal heartbeat could be detected by standard ultrasound, as unconstitutional, Reuters reports: "U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that the law 'impermissibly infringes a woman's Fourteenth Amendment right to elect to terminate a pregnancy before viability' of the fetus, as established by the U.S. Supreme Court."

The decision lets stand the requirement that women seeking abortions must undergo ultrasounds to determine if fetal heartbeats are present, Reuters also reports.

The Arkansas attorney general certified a ballot measure today that would allow voters to amend the state constitution to recognize same-sex matrimony, according to ArkansasMatters.com. The ballot measure must now have get signatures in support to get on the ballot.

The Associated Press reports the Arkansas Attorney General has approved the popular name and ballot title of a ballot measure that would ask Arkansas voters to repeal the definition of marriage as between only a man and a woman. The ballot measure would only change the state constitution, not a state law that bans same-sex marriage. The AP further reports, "Arkansas' gay marriage ban was approved by 75 percent of voters in 2004. Same-sex couples have filed lawsuits this year in federal and state court challenging the ban."