Page 824 – Family Council

Eighth Circuit Lifts Ruling Against Four Arkansas Pro-Life Laws

Aug 7, 2020Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 7, 2020

On Friday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court ruling against four pro-life laws the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2017.

Family Council President Jerry Cox issued a statement saying, “This is a very good ruling. It paves the way for the enforcement of these good laws. These laws protect women from dangerous surgical abortion procedures. They help prevent babies’ organs from being harvested and sold to researchers. They expand the reporting requirements for abortions performed on underage girls. And they require abortionists to request part of a woman’s medical history before performing some abortions. These are good laws that never should have been blocked in the first place.”

Cox said the laws will save women and unborn children from abortion. “One of the laws that the court unblocked today is a dismemberment abortion ban. It prohibits certain surgical abortion procedures that dismember the unborn baby. Prohibiting these dismemberment abortions will save the lives of hundreds of babies every year, and it will protect women from an abortion procedure that carries a number of risks.”

Cox praised the Arkansas General Assembly, Governor Hutchinson, and Attorney General Rutledge. “Arkansas’ lawmakers passed these good laws, and Governor Hutchinson signed them. This good outcome never would have occurred without the work of Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and her staff who have fought tirelessly to defend every good, pro-life law passed by the General Assembly. This is a good ruling, and we look forward to future victories like it.”

Family Council is a conservative education and research organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Arkansas Lottery Again Talks About Keno, Letting People Gamble Online

Aug 7, 2020Jerry CoxArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

In an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther indicated that the state-run lottery might like to offer Keno and Internet gambling in Arkansas.

Lottery officials have floated the idea of offering Keno and electronic gambling in the past in order to bolster lottery sales and entice more people to play the lottery.

But lottery ticket sales surged in Arkansas during the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, and the Lottery just finished its best best fiscal year ever, in terms of revenue.

Clearly the Arkansas Lottery is doing just fine without Keno or online gambling.

Lottery officials lobbied unsuccessfully for Keno in 2013 and 2014, but lawmakers soundly rejected that proposal.

Keno is different from games like Powerball or MegaMillions. Drawings usually take place every few minutes rather than once a day, and the odds of winning a jackpot prize tend to be worse than other lottery games.

Its fast pace makes Keno a popular casino game, because players can pick numbers and place bets over and over again in a short amount of time.

As a result, Keno often is played in a live room full of gamblers.

One of the reasons lawmakers rejected Keno a few years ago is that they did not want the State Lottery creating miniature casinos in bars, convenience stores, and gas stations all over Arkansas.

If the Arkansas Lottery authorizes Keno — and especially if lottery officials make it possible for people to gamble online — that’s going to increase problem gambling and gambling addiction in Arkansas.

Trans-Targeting Catholic Hospitals

Aug 7, 2020John StonestreetLGBT, Religious FreedomLGBT, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, Transgender

*John Stonestreet, Radio Host and President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.*

A Catholic hospital in Baltimore is being sued by a woman for refusing to remove her perfectly healthy uterus. She claims the hospital discriminated against her because she identifies as a man.

No hospital should remove healthy organs, of course, and this Catholic hospital refused because of their faith commitments. Even if a non-transitioning woman wanted her healthy uterus removed, the Catholic hospital would refuse.

Catholic and other religiously based hospitals have been fighting this kind of absurd targeting for years, first over abortion and now over various levels of so-called sex-reassignment treatments.

This is no isolated case. A California court will hear a similar lawsuit soon, as well. As Wesley J. Smith warns at National Review, “Many Catholic hospitals will close before being forced to practice medicine in ways that violate Catholic doctrine.”

Our country’s health system is already strained, so this would be a disaster. Let’s pray religious freedom, public health, and common sense wins out over trans ideology.