The Bible says that there is safety in the multitude of counselors. To date, I have consulted with 16 strongly pro-life attorneys about whether or not Arkansas should pass a Texas-type abortion law at this time. Two believe we should. Fourteen believe Arkansas should wait until this summer to pass any more abortion-related laws. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if they are going to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fourteen pro-life attorneys I have consulted with believe passing any more abortion-related laws at this time can jeopardize Act 309 of 2021, which makes abortion illegal except to save the life of the mother. Their advice is that we not pass a Texas-type abortion law at this time. They have also advised that the passage of a Texas-type abortion law is unlikely to stop any abortions in Arkansas. Judges in our courts are different from the ones in Texas.
In addition to the attorneys who have concerns, none of the major national pro-life organizations have expressed strong support of a Texas-type abortion law. National Right to Life, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Americans United for Life, and others have been mostly quiet on this issue. I have heard them choose their words carefully by saying that they don’t oppose the Texas abortion law. If an Arkansas version of the Texas law was a good idea, these national groups would be saying so. There are really good reasons for their silence, and we need to pay attention to that.
Someone has to sound the alarm and tell Arkansans that it can do a lot more harm than good if we proceed with passing more abortion laws before the U.S. Supreme Court rules this June. After that, we will know what kind of legislation, if any, Arkansas needs to pass to end abortion.
