Family Council Action Committee Opposes Casino Amendment

Casinos, Gambling,

The following is a press release from Family Council Action Committee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 1, 2016

On Thursday the Arkansas Secretary of State certified a proposed amendment allowing casinos in three different counties in Arkansas for the November ballot.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement against the amendment, saying, “This amendment allows a group of Missouri businessmen to write themselves and their gambling operation into the Arkansas Constitution.”

Cox said, “This amendment creates a monopoly allowing out-of-state businessmen to build casinos in Texarkana, Fayetteville, and Harrison. That’s bad enough, but the fact that no one else would be allowed to do the same creates a monopoly of the worst sort. Even if every voter in these cities opposes the casinos, they could still be built if the amendment passes in the statewide vote this November.”

Cox said the amendment lets casinos operate without enough accountability. “The way the amendment is written the Arkansas Legislature won’t be able to regulate them. It specifically states that any kind of gambling that is legal in Nevada and in several other states must be allowed at these casinos. In 10 or 20 years, there is not telling what kind of gambling they will be doing in Nevada and other states, but whatever it is, it will be allowed right here in Arkansas.”

Cox noted that casino gambling has not been an economic boon elsewhere. “Tunica County, Mississippi, has nine casinos. Just across the Mississippi River in Lee County, Arkansas, there are no casinos. The poverty levels in these two counties is almost identical. It’s the same with casinos in Oklahoma. At best their economy is stagnant. On the downside, communities with casinos see higher rates of bankruptcy, higher crime rates, higher divorce rates, and a greater need for community services to assist women and children in need. It’s no coincidence that pawn shops are usually next door to casinos. Arkansas won’t be any different. This is an industry that preys on poor people.”

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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New Report: “Born This Way” Argument Built on Shaky Science

Homosexuality, ,

A new report analyzing a vast body of studies and research casts doubt on the prevailing notion sexual orientation and gender identity are biologically determined.

After analyzing decades of scientific data, researchers concluded,

“Some of the most widely held views about sexual orientation, such as the ‘born that way’ hypothesis, simply are not supported by science. The literature in this area does describe a small ensemble of biological differences between non-heterosexuals and heterosexuals, but those biological differences are not sufficient to predict sexual orientation, the ultimate test of any scientific finding. The strongest statement that science offers to explain sexual orientation is that some biological factors appear, to an unknown extent, to predispose some individuals to a non-heterosexual orientation. . . . .

“In reviewing the scientific literature, we find that almost nothing is well understood when we seek biological explanations for what causes some individuals to state that their gender does not match their biological sex.”

Writing at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, John Stonestreet notes,

Their report also tackles the transgender question, comparing actual research to the lofty claims of activists. Once again, there’s a yawning chasm. Only a tiny minority of children who experience gender dysphoria continue to identify as transgender when they’re adults.

McHugh and Mayer [the researchers] insist that subjecting children to hormone therapy or to so-called “sex reassignment” surgery is an act of sheer ideology, not medicine or compassion.

And, they add, adults who undergo sex-change operations (which the Obama Administration is pressuring health insurers to cover) are still—get this—19 times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population.

You may recall in 2012 the former president of the American Psychological Association stated sexual orientation could change, and in 2014 the former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital explained in the Wall Street Journal why the hospital stopped doing sex-reassignment surgeries.

Homosexual and transgender activists often liken sexual orientation and gender identity to race, claiming they are biologically determined and unchangeable. The science behind that claim, however, seems to be far from settled.

You can listen to John Stonestreet’s full commentary on the issue below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/audio/2016/083116_BP.mp3|titles=’Born This Way’ is Shaky Science]

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Arkansas AG Asks Court to Let State Enforce Pro-Life Law

Abortion, , ,

Last week Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office filed an appeal asking a federal court to let the State of Arkansas enforce a pro-life law lawmakers passed last year.

The Abortion Inducing Drugs Safety Act requires doctors performing drug-induced abortions to follow FDA protocols when administer abortion drugs like RU-486.

It also requires abortion clinics to have an agreement with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital in case complications arise from the abortion.

Planned Parenthood sued the state late last year over the law. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the law’s enforcement.

Attorney General Rutledge is asking the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn that judge’s injunction and let the State of Arkansas enforce this good, pro-life law.

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