Case: Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Jegley
4:21-cv-00453 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Filed Date: May 26, 2021
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
This case is one in a string of challenges to Arkansas’s abortion access restrictions. A few months prior to the filing of this suit, the Eighth Circuit enjoined the state’s pre-viability bans on abortion via Act 493 (criminalizing abortion at 18 weeks) in Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Rutledge.
The present case was filed in response to Act 309 (“Act 309”), signed into law on March 26, 2021, which effectively prohibited abortion in nearly all cases and imposed criminal penalties on doctors who provided abortion care. In direct violation of the bright-line rule set in Roe v. Wade and affirmed in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey prohibiting states from banning pre-viability abortions, Act 309 was intended to ban all abortions and was set to take effect on July 28, 2021. Act 309 mandated that “[a] person shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency.” Act 309 § 5- 61-404(a). Performing an abortion in violation of the act constituted an unclassified felony punishable by up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to $100,000. Act 309 § 5-61-404(b). It was thus significantly more expansive than the previously-enjoined Act 493.
On May 26, 2021, Little Rock Family Planning Services (LRFPS), Planned Parenthood of Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma (PPAEO), and a named individual abortion provider filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas challenging Act 309. LRFPS and PPAEO were the only remaining abortion clinics in the state. The plaintiffs, represented by the Planned Parenthood Federation (PPF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sued officers and members of the Arkansas State Medical Board, Department of Health, and Board of Health. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker.
The plaintiffs sought injunctive relief preventing the enforcement of Act 309, alleging that prohibiting an individual from deciding whether to bring a pregnancy to term violated patients’ rights to liberty and privacy guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They also sought declaratory relief.
The plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction on June 14, 2021. The district court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, blocking the state from enforcing Act 309, on July 20, 2021. The district court concluded that people seeking abortions in Arkansas faced an imminent threat to their constitutional rights and would suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief. The district court determined that the threat of irreparable harm to plaintiffs and the public interest outweighed the immediate interests of the defendants. 549 F.Supp.3d 922.
Meanwhile, on June 25, 2021, Concepts of Truth, Inc., a helpline for abortion recovery and prevention, as well as its director, moved to intervene.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. As a result, the plaintiffs moved to dismiss the case without prejudice on July 6, 2022.
In light of Dobbs, on July 26, 2022, the Eighth Circuit granted the unopposed motion for summary reversal of the district court’s preliminary injunction, and remanded for further proceedings. That same day, the district court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss without prejudice, and denied as moot the motion to intervene.
This case is now closed.
Summary Authors
Hannah Juge (2/14/2022)
Saba Khan (5/19/2023)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59938968/parties/little-rock-family-planning-services-v-jegley/
Baker, Kristine Gerhard (Arkansas)
Amiri, Brigitte (Arkansas)
Burrows, Meagan M. (Arkansas)
Chan, Rebecca (Arkansas)
Godesky, Leah (Arkansas)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Resources
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59938968/little-rock-family-planning-services-v-jegley/
Last updated July 9, 2026, 5:23 a.m.
Docket for: Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Jegley
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Healthcare Access and Reproductive Issues
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 26, 2021
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiff’s Description: Little Rock Family Planning Services (LRFPS) and Planned Parenthood of Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma (PPAEO) are the last two remaining abortion clinics in the state of Arkansas. LRFPS is a limited liability corporation licensed to do business in Arkansas while PPAEO is a non-profit corporation licensed to business in Arkansas. Named plaintiff is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and individual abortion provider licensed to practice medicine in Arkansas.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
County
Pulaski County
State
Arkansas
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Other Dockets:
Eastern District of Arkansas 4:21-cv-00453
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Granted:
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief:
Content of Injunction:
Issues
Discrimination Area:
Affected Sex/Gender(s):
Reproductive rights:
Reproductive health care (including birth control, abortion, and others)
Case Summary of Little Rock Family Planning Services v. Jegley, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/43106/ (last updated 5/19/2023).