The Passing of Betsy Hagan, a Gracious Warrior

Current Events

My friend Betsy Hagan of Little Rock recently passed away.

Betsy was one of the kindest and most gracious warriors I have ever known. Beginning in 1977, she and other Arkansas ladies working with Phyllis Schlafly’s nationally powerful Eagle Forum were a force to be reckoned with at the State Capitol.

After stopping Arkansas’ ratification of the federal Equal Rights Amendment, she and the Arkansas group known as F.L.A.G. (Family Life America and God) mobilized Christians statewide to fight the liberal legislative agenda.

Betsy won time after time not because she was stronger, but because she cared more deeply. She was the best kind of lobbyist. Not only was she a gracious, Christian lady who lobbied that way, but she was never paid a dime for any of her work. She spent thousands of hours at the Capitol fighting the good fight for free, because she knew she was in the right.

When she knew she was in the right, there was no stopping her. She was a warrior. For her it was a calling — a calling from God — a destiny that she faithfully fulfilled until the end of her physical strength.

When some people leave, their shoes are soon filled. Others are simply irreplaceable. Betsy Hagan was one of a kind. When I look at her legacy, and I see the empty shoes she leaves behind, I doubt that anyone else can ever take her place.

Jerry Cox; September 27, 2017

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Arkansas Congressmen Co-Sponsor Federal Pro-Life Bill

Abortion, , ,

Next week Congress will vote on the federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act of 2017.

This is a federal bill similar to a pro-life law the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2013. It prohibits abortion after the twentieth week of pregnancy, except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

All four of Arkansas’ congressmen are co-sponsoring this good, federal bill.

Medical science shows unborn babies feel the pain of abortion — especially after the twentieth week of pregnancy. In 2000, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy described the abortion process, writing, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn from limb from limb. . . . The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off.”

Abortion is a horrific procedure. That’s one reason many states — including Arkansas — have passed laws prohibiting abortion after the twentieth week of pregnancy.

You can read the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act of 2017 here.

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State Officials, City Attorneys Spar Over Fayetteville Ordinance

Legislation, , , ,

In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 137, the Intrastate Commerce Act. This good law prevents local municipalities from creating protected classes not found in state law.

It ensures Arkansas does not wind up with a patchwork of conflicting civil rights ordinances and policies in different cities and counties. It also helps ensure local municipalities do not adopt ordinances that undermine religious liberties.

In the fall of 2015 the City of Fayetteville adopted an ordinance creating protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge wrote that the ordinance was unenforceable under Act 137. Last February the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed and overturned the ordinance, saying it violates state law.

The discussion should have ended there, but now attorneys from the City of Fayetteville and the State of Arkansas are back in court, arguing over whether or not Act 137 is constitutional. Fayetteville’s attorneys say the law is not constitutional. The state’s attorneys say it is.

The judge overseeing the case has even gone so far as to suggest that lawmakers who sponsored Act 137 should be questioned to determine their reasoning for the legislation.

Legislative intent is important, but it has nothing to do with whether or not Act 137 is constitutional. Laws about discrimination are best left to the state and federal governments. Act 137 simply ensures the state will make those policies rather than local municipalities.

You can read more about this story here.

Photo Credit: “Old Main from the northwest, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (autumn)” by Brandonrush – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

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