‘I was violated and put in extreme danger’: women denied abortions sue over Arkansas ban

Suit filed by Amplify Legal says laws violate constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

A

s Emily Waldorf languished in an Arkansas hospital, she felt like “a ticking time bomb”. It was 2024, and the physical therapist was in the midst of miscarrying a much-wanted pregnancy. But because her fetus still had a heartbeat, hospital officials said Arkansas’s near-total abortion ban blocked them from taking steps to induce labor and end her pregnancy.

Instead, Waldorf had to wait and hope that she didn’t develop a deadly infection.

Waldorf’s sister, Elizabeth, called the office of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas, to ask for help. “What do you expect the governor to do?” a male official from Sanders’s office asked. Waldorf, the official said, should “find a lawyer”.