Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office is preparing to defend three pro-life laws the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2019, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The laws in question are:
- 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 in 2019, but abortionists filed a lawsuit last year to have the laws overturned.
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 February the A.G.’s office filed arguments with the Eighth Circuit noting 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. Arkansas has won some major, pro-life victories because of her work and I am confident that more victories are ahead.
