HB 1551 Arkansas House · 2025 Regular Session

TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CRIMINAL ABORTION; AND TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF COERCED CRIMINAL ABORTION BY MEANS OF FRAUD.

HB 1551 (now Act 485) creates a new criminal offense for coercing someone into an abortion through fraud, such as falsely claiming a medical necessity. It directly affects individuals who might be pressured into an abortion under false pretenses and medical providers who engage in such fraudulent coercion. The bill adds a specific criminal penalty for this conduct, separate from existing abortion laws. This law, passed in Arkansas on April 8, 2025, focuses on preventing deceptive practices in abortion decisions.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Apr 2025

Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Signed Apr 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Act 485 → HB 1551 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted from the previous Act 485 version to the current HB 1551 format. The substantive definition of 'abortion-inducing drugs' was modified to clarify that drugs known to increase miscarriage risk are excluded if prescribed for other medical indications like chemotherapy or diagnostics. An approval date stamp was removed from the document.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; primarily a formatting update with a minor clarification to the drug definition.

DEFINITION

Clarified that drugs which may increase miscarriage risk are not considered abortion-inducing drugs when prescribed for other medical purposes such as chemotherapy or diagnostic procedures.

TECHNICAL

Removed the previous Act 485 approval date stamp (4/8/25) from the document header.

Updated document formatting from Act 485 style to current HB 1551 legislative format.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 8, 2025

Signed into law

Notification that HB1551 is now Act 485

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate amendment # 1 read and concurred in.

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned from Senate as passed, as amended # 1

lower

Mar 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned to the House as passed as amended # 1 .

upper

Mar 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read the third time and passed.

upper

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it Do Pass as amended, Amendment # 1

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Introduced

Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors