Arkansas A.G. Asks Eighth Circuit to Let State De-Fund Planned Parenthood

Abortion, , ,

This week Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals not to overturn a panel’s ruling that lets the state cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading abortion provider. In 2015 Governor Asa Hutchinson directed the state to stop giving Medicaid reimbursements to the organization after a series of undercover videos showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs and tissue harvested from aborted babies.

Following a lengthy lawsuit, a three-judge panel ruled in August that the state has the power to cut Medicaid funds to abortion providers. Planned Parenthood appealed that decision to the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Below is a full timeline of the issue of publicly-funded abortion in Arkansas.

  • November 8, 1988: Voters in Arkansas passed Amendment 68 to the Arkansas Constitution prohibiting public funds from paying for abortion, except to save the mother’s life.
  • July 25, 1994: Following a lawsuit by an abortion clinic in Little Rock, a federal court blocked enforcement of Amendment 68, saying it violated the Hyde Amendment — a rider on the federal budget Congress passed in 1994 prohibiting public funding of abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.
  • July 25, 1995: The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.
  • March 18, 1996: The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling, essentially saying Amendment 68 could only be blocked insofar as it conflicted with the Hyde Amendment. Practically speaking, this has prevented public funding of abortion in most cases, with the exception of abortions paid for with Medicaid funds in certain circumstances permitted by the federal Hyde Amendment.
  • April 6, 2015: The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 996 prohibiting the state from awarding grants to abortion providers and their affiliates.
  • August 14, 2015: Governor Asa Hutchinson directed the Department of Human Services to terminate its Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood.
  • October 2, 2015: U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction forcing the State of Arkansas to continue making Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood following a lawsuit by three of Planned Parenthood’s patients.
  • September 29, 2016: U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker expanded that ruling to apply to all of Planned Parenthood’s patients in Arkansas. Arkansas’ attorney general appealed the ruling to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • August 16, 2017: A three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Arkansas can decline to provide Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers.
  • August 30, 2017: The three-judge panel’s decision was appealed to the full Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • October 24, 2017: Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office asked the Eighth Circuit to leave the panel’s decision in place.

Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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A.G. Rejects Twelfth Recreational Marijuana Measure Since May

Marijuana

Yesterday Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office rejected yet another proposal to legalize recreational marijuana.

The A.G. rejected the measure due to ambiguities in its text.

This is not the first time Attorney General Rutledge has examined a recreational marijuana proposal. By our count, her office has rejected eleven similar measures since May of this year.

I hope you will thank Attorney General Rutledge for continuing to reject these flawed marijuana measures. You can call her office at 501-682-2007 or email oag@ArkansasAG.gov.

As we have said before: So-called “medical marijuana” is just a stepping stone. The endgame for marijuana’s supporters is — and always has been — full legalization.

Read the A.G.’s full opinion on the marijuana proposal here.

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The Importance of Education

Education, Home School,

Our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview have published a commentary on the importance of education and school choice.

John Stonestreet writes,

As stories pile up of public schools teaching first-graders it’s normal to have two mommies or two daddies or hosting “coming out” events for transgender students, one might sympathize with the urgency many parents feel to get their kids out of “government schools.”

But for some, such as those lacking the time and resources for private schools or homeschooling, the options are limited. And let me be clear: There are many good public schools and many dedicated Christian teachers in those schools who deserve our support. But it’s also clear that current trends don’t bode well for public education in America. . . . .

And we ought be clear on this point as Christians: no matter what we use among the public, private, homeschool or hybrid options, ultimately the education of our children is a parental responsibility—one that we cannot outsource.

Stonestreet goes on to talk about the contributions Christianity has made to education in the past and the many good options that exist for students and adults seeking a sound education today.

One of the reasons we have promoted home schooling for so many years is we firmly believe that parents have a right and a responsibility to direct the education of their children, and home schooling provides important options for families who want to give their children the best educational opportunities they can.

You can read Stonestreet’s entire commentary here or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/102317_BP.mp3|titles=BreakPoint: Getting Creative with Education]

Photo: Credit: By Rennett Stowe from USA (Tapping a Pencil Uploaded by Atmoz) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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