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What Does Arkansas’ Abortion Ban Actually Say?

Jul 8, 2022Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Dobbs v. Jackson, Life, Pro-life, Roe v. Wade, Sanctity of Human Life

*Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (left) and Family Council President Jerry Cox hold the official certification that Roe is reversed and Act 180 of 2019 is in effect.*

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified that Act 180 of 2019 prohibiting abortion except to save the life of the mother is in effect.

Family Council worked in support of Act 180 with our friends in the Arkansas Legislature and with other pro-life organizations.

Below is a brief overview of the law:

Act 180 is a “trigger law” that was designed to take effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Act 180 prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the mother’s life.
It says anyone who performs an illegal abortion can be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
It does not prosecute a woman who has an illegal abortion.
It doesn’t criminalize miscarriage.
The law permits procedures to remove an unborn baby who has died as a result of a miscarriage.
It doesn’t apply to ectopic pregnancies.
Act 180 doesn’t prohibit an OB/GYN from inducing labor or performing an emergency C-section.
It contains clear exceptions for contraception—including the “morning after” pill or Plan B.
Act 180 doesn’t prevent a pregnant woman from receiving medical treatments—such as chemotherapy—that carry risk for the unborn child.

Act 180 of 2019 had 47 legislative sponsors and co-sponsors.

Three-quarters of the Arkansas Legislature voted in favor of the measure, and Governor Hutchinson signed it on February 19, 2019.

Public opinion polling shows 79% of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

Act 180 reflects that. It generally prohibits abortion, but it makes exceptions for serious medical complications—like an ectopic pregnancy—and for circumstances when the mother’s life is in jeopardy.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Abortion Facility Owner Found “Not Guilty” of Assault

Jul 7, 2022Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Wednesday abortion facility owner Natalie Tvedten was found “not guilty” of First Degree Assault at a trial in Little Rock.

Warrant and arrest reports indicated that Tvedten faced two counts of Assault in the First Degree for allegedly trying to strike pro-lifers with her vehicle while they prayed on the public easement outside Little Rock Family Planning Services on July 13, 2021.

Little Rock Family Planning Services is Arkansas’ only licensed surgical abortion facility. The facility recently stopped performing abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade on June 24.

Family Council has collected Little Rock Police reports documenting multiple close calls that pro-lifers have had with vehicles outside the surgical abortion facility over the years.

Below is video footage of the the July 13 incident that Family Council obtained last year via Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

The Great Firewall of China

Jul 6, 2022John StonestreetChinaChina

“For many years, the internet in China was seen as a channel for new thinking, or at least greater openness,” writes Human Rights Watch researcher Yaqiu Wang. “Online discussions were relatively free and open, and users, especially younger ones, had an eager appetite for learning and debating big ideas about political systems and how China should be governed.”

That changed when Xi Jinping took power. Explaining what’s known as China’s “Great Firewall,” Wang notes, “the government got savvier, and more aggressive about using its own technology.” For example, dissidents, journalists, and public figures disappear frequently, sometimes often for minor infractions like logging onto Twitter.

The state’s actions have created “a generational split,” says Wang. “[T]hose who experienced a relatively free internet as young people—many strongly resent the Great Firewall. Among people who started college after Xi took power, however, there is a strong impulse to defend it.”

It’s an extreme example of how tools intended and used for good can also be harnessed for evil. The same resource that can promote flourishing can also promote tyranny. That’s true everywhere, not just China.