---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO AMEND THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW-AND-SEE ACT; AND TO REQUIRE AN ABORTION PROVIDER WHO KNOWINGLY PERFORMS OR REFERS A PATIENT FOR AN ABORTION TO COMPLY WITH THE RIGHT OF A PATIENT TO VIEW ULTRASOUND IMAGES BEFORE AN ABORTION."
description: "TO AMEND THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW-AND-SEE ACT; AND TO REQUIRE AN ABORTION PROVIDER WHO KNOWINGLY PERFORMS OR REFERS A PATIENT FOR AN ABORTION TO COMPLY WITH THE RIGHT OF A PATIENT TO VIEW ULTRASOUND IMAGES BEFORE AN ABORTION."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 542"
citation: "Arkansas SB 542 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Irvin", "L. Johnson"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-03-29T22:05:33+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-11T20:25:41+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3eb26345-183a-4bc1-b621-860903022b8f"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "0285b85918daac40969b8ac9d742504116cba3ccdb4da78f584a3c5d1340f71f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas SB 542 (2023) — TO AMEND THE RIGHT-TO-KNOW-AND-SEE ACT; AND TO REQUIRE AN ABORTION PROVIDER WHO KNOWINGLY PERFORMS OR REFERS A PATIENT FOR AN ABORTION TO COMPLY WITH THE RIGHT OF A PATIENT TO VIEW ULTRASOUND IMAGES BEFORE AN ABORTION.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Act 559** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=559.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **SB 542** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/SB542.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **80–12** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **28–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Irvin — primary (person)
- L. Johnson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-03-29T22:05:33+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-03-29T23:48:04+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-31T17:40:19+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-03T21:15:54+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-03T21:16:00+00:00** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2023-04-03T22:58:12+00:00** RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
- **2023-04-04T00:49:00+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-04T17:29:14+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-05T21:23:22+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-05T21:23:27+00:00** Returned To the Senate as passed.
- **2023-04-06T03:45:52+00:00** Returned from the House as passed.
- **2023-04-06T03:45:54+00:00** ORDERED ENROLLED
- **2023-04-06T15:01:33+00:00** Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
- **2023-04-06T15:01:35+00:00** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-11T20:25:41+00:00** Notification that SB542 is now Act 559 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3eb26345-183a-4bc1-b621-860903022b8f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).