Liberal Outlets Continue to Bash Arkansas’ SAFE Act

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Rep. Lundstrum and Sen. Clark join two distinguished psychiatrists presenting the SAFE Act before the Senate Public Health Committee.

On Friday VICE News published a video regarding Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

Among other things, VICE’s video features a child in Arkansas who started receiving hormone blockers at eight years old.

The video also includes an interview with Planned Parenthood’s Director of Transgender Care in Little Rock.

Like many outlets, VICE mischaracterizes the SAFE Act as a measure “banning all gender affirming medical care for trans youth.”

In reality, the SAFE Act simply protects children from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of gender transition. Doctors are giving these hormones to kids off-label, in a manner the FDA never intended.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids.

That is why many experts agree that performing sex-reassignment procedures on children — even giving them puberty blockers and hormones — is experimental, at best.

That’s also why earlier this month a major hospital in Sweden announced it would no longer administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

The hospital’s new policy even recognizes that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids “should be regarded as experimental.”

The SAFE Act is a good law that protects children in Arkansas from being subjected to surgeries and procedures that can leave them sterilized and permanently scarred. That’s something to celebrate.

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More Evidence Arkansas Was Right to Pass the SAFE Act

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On May 5, Sweden’s Karolinska Hospital announced it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children under the age of 16.

For children ages 16 – 18, the hospital’s new policy says, “treatment may only occur within the clinical trial settings approved by the EPM (Ethical Review Agency/Swedish Institutional Review Board). The patient must receive comprehensive information about potential risks of the treatment, and a careful assessment of the patient’s maturity level must be conducted to determine if the patient is capable of taking an informed stance on, and consenting to, the treatment.”

The policy also notes that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children “should be regarded as experimental.”

In the U.S., the FDA has never approved puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of gender transition. Doctors do not know the long term effects puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids.

That is why many people equate them with experimenting on children.

That’s also why earlier this year the Arkansas Legislature voted overwhelmingly to pass Act 626 (H.B. 1570), the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act.

This good law by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R – Springdale) and Sen. Alan Clark (R – Lonsdale) prohibits sex-reassignment procedures on children. The law also prevents funding of sex-reassignment procedures performed on children.

Act 626 will protect children in Arkansas from being subjected to surgeries and procedures that can leave them sterilized and permanently scarred.

The fact that one of Sweden’s leading hospitals is no longer giving puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids is just more evidence that Arkansas was right to pass the SAFE Act.

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Biden Administration May End Safety Regulations on RU-486

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Last week the Biden Administration quietly signaled that it may end some of the safety restrictions on the RU-486 chemical abortion drug.

The announcement came via a court filing from the ACLU.

In the filing, the Biden Administration’s Food and Drug Administration indicated it is reviewing whether or not current restrictions on RU-486 are still necessary.

In a press release, the ACLU called the safety restrictions “outdated” and and said the administration needed “to take immediate action to expand access to medication abortion.”

Already this year, the Biden Administration has waived certain safety protocols for RU-486 in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The truth is RU-486 is a dangerous drug that kills unborn children and carries significant health risks for women.

Fortunately, the Arkansas Legislature has passed several good, pro-life laws this year — such as Act 562 by Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) and Sen. Blake Johnson (R – Corning).

Act 562 updates Arkansas’ restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486.

Among other things, it outlines requirements that abortionists must follow in administering abortion-inducing drugs, and it prohibits abortion drugs from being delivered by mail in Arkansas.

This will help maintain strong restrictions on RU-486 in Arkansas — even if the Biden Administration eliminates some of the federal safety regulations for chemical abortion.

All of this underscores why it is so important to pass good, pro-life legislation at the state level to protect unborn children from abortion, no matter what the federal government does.

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