July 13, 2017 – Family Council

Family Council Denounces Misinformation on Abortion Laws

Jul 13, 2017Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 13, 2017

Little Rock, AR—Ahead of a Thursday hearing regarding legal challenges against several pro-life laws, Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement, saying, “A lot of misinformation has spread in recent days about these good, pro-life laws. We want to set the record straight.

“These laws help prohibit companies from buying or selling organs harvested from aborted babies. They ensure aborted babies are respectfully buried or cremated. They help protect minors who may be victims of rape, incest, or human trafficking. They require doctors to request at least some of a woman’s medical records before performing an abortion. They require abortion clinics to be properly licensed and inspected. And they prohibit surgical abortion procedures in which an unborn baby is dismembered. These are good laws that will protect the lives, health, and safety of Arkansans.”

Cox said opponents of the laws have spread confusion through incorrect information. “Instead of talking about the merits of the laws, opponents have resorted to scare tactics and debunked rumors. A few people have tried to argue these laws somehow require a sexual assault victim to get her attacker’s permission before having an abortion or let a man sue to prevent a woman from having an abortion. These are ridiculous arguments that were discredited months ago when the legislature first discussed these laws. None of these laws lets the father of the unborn child stop a woman from having an abortion, and Arkansas does not recognize the parental rights of rapists.”

Cox praised state legislators for passing these pro-life laws last spring. “Most of these laws passed with bipartisan support. A few passed nearly unanimously in the Arkansas House or Arkansas Senate. Our lawmakers know these are good laws. I am optimistic our courts ultimately will agree.”

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Are You As Bothered As I Am About the Internet Sales Tax?

This week I ordered a $130 item on Amazon. When my order was tallied, an extra $11 was added for Arkansas sales tax.

Thanks to legislative talk about collecting sales taxes on all Internet purchases, Amazon decided to start collecting it on their own. Considering the fact that almost every member of the Arkansas Legislature promised no tax increases when they ran for office, aren’t you bothered that they instigated the collection of these taxes?

I’m sure some sly person will remind me that I’m supposed to pay that tax on my own anyway and that it’s not really a tax increase. I might argue that a law few people know about, that’s never been enforced, and that suddenly takes effect feels a lot like a new law–and this one’s impact on the pocket book is the same as a tax increase.

I understand the need not to put local brick-and-mortar businesses at a disadvantage, but our lawmakers could have helped them out by decreasing the tax burden on those businesses rather than taking actions that burden good working people once again.