Last week Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office filed arguments asking the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to let the state enforce three pro-life laws the legislature passed last year:

  • Act 493 of 2019, prohibiting abortion after the eighteenth week of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
  • Act 619 of 2019, prohibiting abortion of an unborn baby solely because the child has Down Syndrome.
  • Act 700 of 2019, requiring abortion doctors to be board certified or board eligible OB/GYNs.

These laws passed with overwhelming support from state lawmakers, but abortionists filed a lawsuit last June to have the laws overturned.

As a result, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued an injunction blocking the state from enforcing the laws. Attorney General Rutledge’s office has asked the Eighth Circuit to vacate Judge Baker’s injunction.

In last week’s arguments, the A.G.’s office noted that Judge Baker’s injunction “prohibited Arkansas from pursuing three goals: reducing brutal, late-term abortions; outlawing discriminatory abortions that devalue people already living with Down Syndrome; and protecting women from incompetent abortion practitioners.”

As I’ve said many times, I don’t know of any attorney general in America who is doing more to fight for the right to life than Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

Her team has tirelessly defended good laws like these, and I am confident that Arkansas will win some big, pro-life victories in federal court.