Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe on Friday signed into law a state ban on partial-birth abortion, following the bill’s overwhelming support in both Congressional houses.

The ban, which was sponsored by Democrat Rep. Dawn Creekmore, passed the House of Representatives 84-6 on Wednesday, and the Senate 30-3 on Thursday.  Republican Sen. Cecile Bledsoe sponsored the bill in the Senate.

Creekmore told the congressional committee that, although the gruesome procedure is already banned by the federal government, state law should adopt the ban as well, in case the Democrat-led federal Congress overturns the national ban.

The Arkansas law is similar to the national version, except that it authorizes the state medical board to seek action against doctors who perform the procedure, and that those convicted could be punished with up to six years in prison.  The federal ban carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood spoke out fiercely against the bill, arguing that it contained no exception in case the procedure is deemed necessary to protect the mother’s health.

However, health professionals have often testified that partial-birth abortion – whereby a child is delivered, except for the head, and then the skull is punctured and brain sucked out – provides no therapeutic benefit for the mother.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) could "conceive of no circumstance in which it (partial-birth abortion) would be needed to save the life or preserve the health of a mother," according to a June 2003 letter to Congress from AAPS member Dr. Jane Orient.