Arkansas Supreme Court Issues Good Ruling on Fayetteville Ordinance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 23, 2017

On Thursday the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a ruling effectively striking a Fayetteville ordinance granting special protections to people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is a good ruling. Laws about discrimination are best left to the state and federal governments. The City of Fayetteville overstepped when it passed this ordinance. I’m glad the Arkansas Supreme Court understood that and struck the ordinance down.”

Cox criticized the Fayetteville ordinance, saying, “The ordinance granted special protections for people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but it failed to protect religious Arkansans. Under this ordinance, a minister could have been penalized for declining to solemnize a same-sex marriage, and people of faith who own catering services, florist shops, wedding venues, and so on could have been penalized for declining to participate in or cater to same-sex ceremonies. One of the founding principles of our nation is the free exercise of religion. Fayetteville’s ordinance penalized people for living and operating according to their faith. The Arkansas Supreme Court did the right thing in striking this ordinance.”

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House Committee Passes “Wrongful Birth” Legislation

This morning the Arkansas House Judiciary Committee passed S.B. 340 by Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson (R-Little Rock) and Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Clarksville).

This good, pro-life bill prevents parents from suing doctors or hospitals for “wrongful birth.”

In other states, parents have filed “wrongful birth” lawsuits claiming their son or daughter should have been aborted.

For example, in December of 2013 a Seattle couple was awarded $50 million in a “wrongful birth” lawsuit. The couple claimed they would have aborted their son (now nine years old) had they known he would be born with a genetic defect.

I don’t know how you tell your son you wish he had never been born. These sorts of wrongful birth lawsuits treat children like nothing more than a financial expense and further the lie that children with genetic defects are better off aborted.

S.B. 340 helps ensures our laws treat human life with respect and dignity and that no one is able to argue in court that a child should have been aborted.