Title 20 — Public Health and Welfare

(a) All Title X-funded facilities in Arkansas shall include fertility awareness-based methods as part of covered family planning and reproductive health services. (b) (1) The Department of Health shall work with Title X-funded facilities to integrate fertility awareness-based met…

(a) As authorized by state or federal funding, the Department of Health shall integrate information about fertility awareness-based methods into existing public health programs, including:(1) Family planning services;(2) Maternal and child health programs; and(3) Women's health i…

It is the intent of this subchapter to establish a comprehensive statewide system of care addressing maternal health by organizing resources, educating providers and patients, incentivizing best practices, and collecting critical data to drive improvement.

(a) The Department of Health shall create a comprehensive statewide system of care addressing maternal health to be called the “Maternal Outcomes Management System”. (b) The Maternal Outcomes Management System shall without limitation:(1) (A) Research and organize maternal health…

(a) (1) As part of the Maternal Outcomes Management System, the Department of Health shall establish a grant program for birthing and delivery hospitals that includes a designation system for birthing and delivery hospitals based on the individual birthing and delivery hospital's…

The Department of Health shall establish a call center to be called the “MOMS Care Connect” to operate in conjunction with the Arkansas Trauma Call Center and to coordinate transfers of pregnant women between hospitals to ensure an appropriate level of care is provided.

(a) (1) The Department of Health shall establish a call center to be called the “Postpartum Support Hotline” to proactively reach out to mothers post-delivery.(2) The call center established in this section shall be separate from MOMS Care Connect established under § 20-16-2704.(…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Race Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman, with knowledge that the termination by an…

(a) A physician or other person shall not intentionally perform or attempt to perform an abortion with the knowledge that the pregnant woman is seeking the abortion solely on the basis of the race of the unborn child. (b) Before performing an abortion, the physician or other pers…

A physician or other person who knowingly performs or attempts to perform an abortion prohibited by this subchapter is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(a) (1) A physician or other person who knowingly violates this subchapter is liable for damages and shall have his or her medical license suspended or revoked as applicable.(2) The physician or other person may also be enjoined from future acts prohibited by this subchapter. (1)…

(a) A woman who receives or attempts to receive an abortion in violation of this subchapter shall not be prosecuted under this subchapter for conspiracy to violate this subchapter or otherwise be held criminally or civilly liable for any violation. (b) In a criminal proceeding or…

(a) This subchapter shall not be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion. (b) It is not the intention of this subchapter to make lawful an abortion that is currently unlawful.

The General Assembly by joint resolution may appoint one (1) or more of its members who sponsored or cosponsored this subchapter in his or her official capacity to intervene as a matter of right in any case in which the constitutionality of this law is challenged.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Family Planning Act”.

(1) It is the declaration of the General Assembly that:(1) It is desirable that inhibitions and restrictions be eliminated so that all persons desiring and needing contraceptive procedures, supplies, and information shall have ready and practicable access thereto through legally …

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Contraceptive procedures” means any medically accepted procedures designed to prevent conception; and(2) “Contraceptive supplies” means those medically approved items designed to prevent conception through chemical, mechanical, or other means. …

(1) It shall be the policy and authority of this state that:(1) All medically acceptable contraceptive procedures, supplies, and information shall be available through legally recognized channels to each person desirous of the procedures, supplies, and information regardless of s…

Subject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no physician or surgeon licensed by this state shall be liable civilly or criminally by reason of having performed surgical sterilization authorized by the provisions of this subchapter upon any person in this state.

This subchapter shall not be applicable to the Department of Health.

(a) (1) Any bona fide appropriately licensed medical facility, including, but not limited to, a county hospital, participating in recognized research in Arkansas and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expressly authorized to contract for the production of any infor…

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall have the power to enter into agreements with neighboring states consistent with the requirements and restrictions of this subchapter in order to…

All hospitals with pediatric, obstetric, or spontaneous abortion patient records may under this subchapter contract to share information in those records with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children's Hospital, other bona fide licensed medical facilitie…

Any physician, clinic, person, or organization may under this subchapter contract to provide information relative to reproductive health to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Persons other than the state, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall not acquire any actionable right by virtue of this subchapter.

A determination by a study done under this subchapter that a source is suspected of causing adverse fetal or neonatal health outcomes shall not create by reason thereof any presumption of law or finding of a fact which shall inure to or be for the benefit of any person other than…

No liability of any kind for damages or other relief shall arise or be enforced against any person or organization by reason of having provided information pursuant to this subchapter or by reason of having released or published the findings of research studies in order to reduce…

(a) Any person who determines by laboratory examination that a specimen derived from a human body yields microscopical, cultural, serological, or other evidence suggestive of those sexually transmitted diseases enumerated in subsection (b) of this section shall notify the HIV/STD…

(a) Notification shall contain the total number of tests performed by type, number of negative specimens, and number of positive or doubtful specimens. (b) Notification of positive or doubtful test results shall contain the name, age, sex, and address of the person from whom the …

Laboratory reporting under §§ 20-16-501 — 20-16-506 shall in no way release the attending physician from his or her responsibility to report cases of sexually transmitted diseases to the HIV/STD/Hepatitis C Section of the Department of Health.

All laboratory notifications required by §§ 20-16-501 — 20-16-506 are confidential and shall not be open for inspection by anyone except public health personnel.

The Infectious Disease Branch of the Department of Health may enact each rule as is necessary to assure compliance with §§ 20-16-501 — 20-16-506.

Failure to give notice as provided in §§ 20-16-501 — 20-16-505 shall be a violation and upon conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).

(a) (1) (A) Every physician and healthcare provider attending pregnant women in this state for conditions relating to their pregnancy shall, in the case of every woman so attended, take or cause to be taken a sample of venous blood or other approved specimen of the woman as early…

(a) (1) When a minor who believes himself or herself to have a sexually transmitted disease consents to the provision of medical care or surgical care or services by a hospital or public clinic or consents to the performance of medical care or surgical care or services by a physi…

(a) No person shall be required to perform or participate in medical procedures which result in the termination of pregnancy. The refusal of any person to perform or participate in these medical procedures shall not be a basis for civil liability to any person nor a basis for any…

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Right-to-Know-and-See Act”. (b) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clin…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Abortion” means the use or prescription of an instrument, medicine, drug, or another substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preser…

(a) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those mean…

(a) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Abortion complication” means any harmful event or adverse outcome with respect to a patient related to an abortion that is performed on the patient and that is diagnosed or treated by a physician or at a healthcare facility.(B) “Abortion compl…

(a) A person shall not perform or induce an abortion unless that person is a physician licensed to practice medicine in the State of Arkansas and is board-certified or board-eligible in obstetrics and gynecology. (b) A violation of this section is a Class D felony and may result …

(a) A state agency shall not:(1) Consent to or approve the termination of a pregnancy for a pregnant woman in the custody or guardianship of the state; or(2) Authorize the expenditure of state funds for the purpose of paying for the termination of a pregnancy for a pregnant woman…

A physician, healthcare provider, or abortion facility shall report to the Department of Health the number of abortions performed to save the life of the mother.

(a) It is the intention of the General Assembly to regulate abortions in a manner consistent with the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. (b) All provisions and all terms shall be construed so as to be consistent with those decisions.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Abortion” means the intentional termination of the pregnancy of a mother with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth or to remove a dead or dying fetus;(2) “Physician” means any person licensed to practice medicine …

A.C.A. § 20-16-703Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) A violation of this subchapter shall be a Class A misdemeanor. (b) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to allow the charging or conviction of a woman with any criminal offense in the death of her own unborn child in utero.

(a) No abortion of a viable fetus shall be performed unless necessary to preserve the life or health of the woman. (b) Before a physician may perform an abortion upon a pregnant woman after such time as her fetus has become viable, the physician shall first certify in writing tha…

(a) Any physician who performs an abortion upon a woman carrying a viable fetus shall utilize the available method or technique of abortion most likely to preserve the life and health of the viable fetus. (b) In cases in which the method or technique of abortion which would most …