Little Rock – On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock ordered four pro-life laws Arkansas passed in 2017 to remain blocked. The 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 law enforcement in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault; and Act 603 of 2017 requiring aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.
Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “This is at least the third time in less than four years that Judge Baker has blocked these good laws. She blocked them in 2017, but a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit unblocked them last August. Judge Baker has given the ACLU and the abortion industry in Arkansas nearly everything it has ever asked for, but the judges above her at the Eighth Circuit have been much more reasonable over the years. With that in mind, I believe it’s likely the Eighth Circuit eventually will overturn her bad ruling.”
Cox said the laws protect women’s health and prevent barbaric abortion practices. “Arkansas’ General Assembly strongly supported these laws in 2017. They protect women from dangerous abortion practices, and they prohibit barbaric abortion procedures that tear living unborn children apart. They also help stop companies from buying and selling organs and tissue harvested from aborted babies, and they protect girls who may be victims of sexual assault. These are good laws, and our courts ought to uphold them. I believe there’s a good possibility that the Eighth Circuit ultimately will do exactly that.”
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