October 4, 2017 – Family Council

Planned Parenthood to Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Throw Out Pro-Life Ruling

Oct 4, 2017Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Eighth Circuit, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

This week Planned Parenthood indicated it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling in favor of a pro-life law Arkansas passed in 2015.

More than two years ago the Arkansas Legislature passed the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act. This law requires abortion providers to follow FDA protocols when dispensing abortion drugs and maintain an agreement with a physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital.

The legal battle over the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act has been long and drawn-out.

Planned Parenthood sued the state over the law late in 2015. A lower court blocked the law from enforcement early last year.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge appealed to the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last July a panel of judges from the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the law.

Planned Parenthood subsequently asked the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit the issue, but the circuit judges declined to do so.

Now Planned Parenthood has filed a motion with the Eighth Circuit asking the court to block enforcement of the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act while attorneys appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Planned Parenthood says it won’t be able to do abortions if this law stands, because its clinics have been unable to find a doctor with hospital admitting privileges who will contract with them.

So far its attorneys are asking the Eighth Circuit to block enforcement of the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act so Planned Parenthood can keep doing abortions in Arkansas while it makes its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In my opinion, this is a long shot for Planned Parenthood. The Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act is a good law that ought to be enforced. The Arkansas Legislature passed it with strong support, and Attorney General Rutledge’s office has defended it in court since Day One. We look forward to other pro-life victories in the future.

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

Congress Passes Landmark Pro-Life Bill

Oct 4, 2017Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

We recently wrote about this good, pro-life bill. It protects unborn children by generally prohibiting abortion after the twentieth week of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. It is similar to a pro-life law the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2013.

All four of Arkansas’ congressmen — Reps. Crawford, Hill, Womack, and Westerman — co-sponsored this bill, and all four of them voted for it yesterday.

The House approved the bill by a vote of 237 to 189, with 7 representatives not voting. It now goes to the U.S. Senate for consideration. President Trump has indicated he would sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act if it reached his desk.

Take Action: Contact your U.S. Congressman, and thank him for supporting this good bill. His contact information is below.

U.S. CONGRESSMAN RICK CRAWFORD (AR DISTRICT 1)

Jonesboro Office:
2400 Highland Drive, Suite 300
Jonesboro, AR 72401
Phone: (870) 203-0540
Fax: (870) 203-0542

D.C. Office:
1711 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4076
Fax: (202) 225-5602

Click Here to Email Congressman Crawford

U.S. CONGRESSMAN FRENCH HILL (AR DISTRICT 2)

Little Rock Office:
1501 N. University Ave.
Suite 630
Little Rock, AR 72207
Phone: (501) 324-5941
Fax: (501) 324-6029

D.C. Office:
1229 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2506
Fax: (202) 225-5903

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Hill

U.S. CONGRESSMAN STEVE WOMACK (AR DISTRICT 3)

Rogers Office:
3333 Pinnacle Hills, Suite 120
Rogers, Arkansas 72758
Phone: (479) 464-0446
Fax: (479) 464-0063

D.C. Office:
1119 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4301
Fax: (202) 225-5713

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Womack

U.S. CONGRESSMAN BRUCE WESTERMAN (AR DISTRICT 4)

Hot Springs Office:
101 Reserve St.
Suite 200
Hot Springs, AR 71901
Phone: (501) 609-9796
Fax: (501) 609-9887

D.C. Office:
130 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3772
Fax: (202) 225-1314

Click Here to Email U.S. Congressman Westerman

Arkansas Lottery Still Rolling Out More Gambling

Oct 4, 2017Jerry CoxArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

This week the Arkansas Lottery announced it is rolling out a new instant lottery game: The Big Money Multiplier.

To put it simply, this is an oversize scratch-off ticket that sells for $10 instead of the typical $1 or $2. The odds of winning a prize — such as a $10 break-even prize — are roughly 1 in 3. The odds of winning the $250,000 jackpot are 1 in 440,000.

This is the same gimmick the Lottery has used since Day One: Roll out as much gambling as possible as quickly as possible in order to bolster ticket sales. In this case, the Lottery is selling scratch-off tickets that are more expensive than most and offer larger prizes, but the odds are long, and in the end the results will be the same: Arkansans will spend — and lose — millions of dollars buying lottery tickets. As we have written before, many people gamble out of desperation, and the Arkansas Lottery preys on those people with tickets like this one.

The Lottery’s director says he hopes this new ticket will help pay for college scholarships. The truth is the Arkansas Lottery allocates 18% – 19% of its revenue for scholarship funding. For perspective, the average state lottery allocates 30%.

The Arkansas Lottery doesn’t need a new scratch-off ticket to help send students to college. It simply needs to rework its budget.

Photo Credit: Mega Millions lottery tickets, by msspider66.