On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining preventing the State of Arkansas from enforcing four pro-life laws the legislature passed in 2017.
The four pro-life laws are:
- Act 45 of 2017 prohibiting certain surgical abortion procedures that dismember a living unborn child.
- Act 733 of 2017 prohibiting abortions performed due to the baby’s sex.
- Act 1018 of 2017 requiring abortionists to report abortions performed on any girl under the age of 17 to the State Crime Lab in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault.
- Act 603 of 2017 prohibiting biomedical and behavioral research on aborted fetal remains and requiring aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.
This is the second time in three years that U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has blocked these laws.
After the ACLU sued to have the laws struck down, Judge Baker blocked the laws from going into effect in 2017
However, a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted her injunction last August, and last week the Eighth Circuit denied the ACLU’s request for a re-hearing before the entire court.
This week the ACLU asked Judge Baker to issue a temporary restraining order against the four laws. The group also asked her to enjoin the laws altogether.
Judge Baker’s restraining order will last until Tuesday, January 5. Between now and then she will have the option of issuing a preliminary injunction that will block the laws while the lawsuit surrounding them continues.
Judge Baker has given the abortionists in Arkansas practically everything they have ever asked for in court — and we have seen her rulings overturned by the Eighth Circuit.
In fact last April the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a writ of mandamus against Judge Baker saying she overstepped her judicial authority after she decided to let abortionists in Little Rock continue operating in spite of state directives ordering elective surgical abortions to be postponed due to COVID-19.
In light of that, it’s no surprise that Judge Baker has blocked Arkansas from enforcing these good, pro-life laws.
However, there is a good possibility that the Eighth Circuit ultimately will reverse her decision and pave the way for these laws to go into effect — which could save hundreds of unborn children in Arkansas every single year.
