U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Abortion Drug Lawsuit Based on Standing

Abortion, , ,

On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a federal lawsuit over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s elimination of safety measures on abortion drugs, saying the pro-life doctors who the filed suit lacked proper standing to do so.

The case — FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine — centered on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve the abortion drug mifepristone — also known as RU-486 — and to eliminate key safety protocols and standards for the drug.

When the FDA first approved RU-486 in 2000, a woman seeking a drug-induced abortion was required to visit the doctor three times.

By 2016 that number was reduced from three doctor visits to one doctor visit.

In 2021, the FDA removed the in-person visit with a doctor altogether — making it possible to obtain RU-486 through the mail without a medical examination or an ultrasound.

All of this puts women and unborn children at serious risk.

Over the years Arkansas’ state legislators have enacted various laws preventing abortion drugs from being delivered by mail in Arkansas and requiring abortionists to follow basic health and safety standards for abortion drugs.

Recently the Arkansas Attorney General’s office successfully sent cease-and-desist letters to abortionists from out of state who were advertising RU-486 to Arkansans.

Today’s decision does not affect Arkansas’ pro-life laws that protect women and unborn children from abortion, but it may mean the state will have to continue to work hard to prevent abortion drugs from being delivered into Arkansas illegally.

This U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is a setback, but this is not the only pro-life case before the nation’s highest court right now.

We fully expect pro-life victories before the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming days.

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

READ MORE

NY On Track to Protect Teens from Social Media Algorithms

Social Media, ,

Last week the New York Legislature passed a measure to protect teens on social media.

The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act prohibits social media platforms from letting children younger than 18 access addictive social media feeds without parental consent. In practice, the law is intended to help ensure children don’t receive social media content suggested to them via algorithms.

Researchers have found social media algorithms on platforms like TikTok actually serve teens what some call a steady “diet of darkness” online.

The Arkansas Attorney General’s office is suing TikTok and Meta — the company that owns Facebook and Instagram.

The A.G.’s lawsuits cite evidence that social media algorithms promote objectionable content to children and harm their mental health.

Social media platforms aren’t just websites. These are multimillion dollar businesses owned and operated by adults.

The adults who operate these social media platforms should not be able to register children as users and promote content to them without — at the very least — parental consent. 

As we have said before, there’s mounting evidence that social media puts users’ personal information at risk is actually designed to push objectionable content to users. With that in mind, it’s good to see policymakers taking action to protect children online.

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

READ MORE

Arkansas Authorities Arrest Kentucky Man for Allegedly Trafficking Illegal Marijuana, THC Products

Marijuana

Last week Arkansas State Police arrested a Kentucky man for allegedly trafficking illegal marijuana and THC products.

Below is a press release from the Arkansas State Police with additional information.

VAN BUREN, Ark. — On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, around 2 p.m., Arkansas State Police (ASP) stopped a rented 2023 white Kia Soul near the 2-mile marker on Interstate 40 Eastbound in Crawford County for a traffic violation.

During a search of the vehicle, Troopers discovered 22 pounds of illegal marijuana inside vacuum-sealed bags, approximately three pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, 2,400 THC vape cartridges, and five pounds of THC concentrate.

Troopers arrested the driver, Benjamin Joyner, 25, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and transported him to the Crawford County Detention Center, where he is being held on felony charges of Trafficking a Controlled Substance, Possession with Purpose to Deliver, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Joyner told investigators he was traveling from Los Angeles, California, to Kentucky.

We have written repeatedly about how marijuana’s legalization in other states has actually fueled the black market rather than weakening it.

California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce seized more than $312 million worth of illegal marijuana in 2023.

Oregon has been inundated by industrial scale marijuana cultivation sites operated illegally by organized crime and drug cartels. Some of these marijuana operations are tied to labor trafficking and violent crime.

Oklahoma authorities describe illicit marijuana as a problem that “plagues” their state.

Right now the group Arkansans for Patient Access is actively working to drastically expand marijuana in Arkansas.

The group has until July 5 to collect 90,704 petition signatures from registered voters to place the marijuana amendment on the ballot.

If passed, the amendment would give free marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents who come to Arkansas to use marijuana.

The amendment would guarantee marijuana growers and sellers a monopoly over the state’s marijuana industry.

Marijuana users would no longer need to show they suffer from a specific medical condition listed in state law — making it easier to use marijuana recreationally.

The measure also fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana products can contain, and it repeals restrictions on marijuana advertising.

All of this would lead to more marijuana in the state.

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

READ MORE