Documents Indicate Arkansas Clinic Botched Abortion: Operation Rescue
April 23, 2018 | Posted in Abortion | By Jerry Cox
According to Operation Rescue, a surgical abortion facility in Little Rock requested an ambulance last month after apparently botching an abortion.
It began on March 31, 2018, when pro-life activists photographed an ambulance at Little Rock Family Planning.
Pro-life activist Mary Silfies told Operation Rescue that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for 911 records related to the incident was denied by the Little Rock City Attorney “because it involved a juvenile.”
A second FOIA request was made to the publicly-funded ambulance company, Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS), which complied with a heavily redacted audio recording and Computer Aided Dispatch printout.
A close inspection of the CAD printout revealed under one of the redactions that the young patient suffered hemorrhaging and lacerations.
The 911 recording, which had information about the patient’s condition removed, indicated that the patient was located “in the procedure room with the doctor.” This was an indication that the patient’s condition was serious, otherwise, she would have been sent to the side or back door of the abortion facility for ambulance pick-up.
However, the recording did contain a revealing question at the end of the conversation between the 911 dispatcher and the abortion facility caller.
“Alright, do you have AED there,” asked the dispatcher, to which the call replied in the affirmative.
AED is short for “automated external defibrillator,” which is used to check a patient’s heart rhythm and can send a shock to restore a normal heartbeat. It is also used in the event of a cardiac arrest.
“The fact that the dispatcher was inquiring about the presence of the AED was another indication that young woman was in pretty bad shape,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
Altogether, Operation Rescue says this is the third time this year an ambulance has been called out to the surgical abortion clinic in Little Rock.
Ten Commandments Monument Returning to Capitol Lawn Next Week
April 19, 2018 | Posted in Religion | By Jerry Cox
A monument of the Ten Commandments will return to the Arkansas Capitol Lawn next week, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The Arkansas Legislature authorized the privately financed monument in 2015, and it was installed on the capitol grounds last year.
Unfortunately, less than 24 hours after it was placed on the lawn, a Van Buren man plowed a car into the monument, destroying it.
The new monument is a duplicate of the original, but it will be flanked by concrete barriers to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Meanwhile, the ACLU has promised to sue the state as soon as the monument is put in place — even though an identical monument was ruled constitutional in Texas some years ago.
Group Sidesteps Attorney General in Casino Bid
April 19, 2018 | Posted in Casinos | By Jerry Cox
Recently we have written about efforts by the Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma and the group Driving Arkansas Forward to build casinos in Arkansas.
Under their proposed constitutional amendment, four casinos would be authorized in Garland, Crittenden, Pope, and Jefferson counties. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has rejected wording for the proposal multiple times, citing ambiguities in the measure’s ballot title.
This week the group asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to approve the measure’s wording and let them start gathering petition signatures to place the casino amendment on the 2018 ballot — despite the fact the Attorney General’s office has said the measure’s wording is deficient.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports lawyers for Driving Arkansas Forward told the Arkansas Supreme Court that the A.G. has abused her duties in failing to approve the casino amendment.
I am not aware of any past group sidestepping the Arkansas Attorney General’s office this way. Instead of working with the A.G. to write an unambiguous ballot proposal — the way pas groups have done — Driving Arkansas Forward is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to usurp the Attorney General’s authority.
Casino gambling is linked to homelessness, domestic violence, divorce, and bankruptcy. It’s a blight on the community. Arkansas already has enough problems from gambling. We don’t need any more.
The Attorney General was right to reject this casino proposal; the Arkansas Supreme Court should do the same.
