22 States Sign Brief Supporting Arkansas’ Ban on Down Syndrome Abortions

Abortion,

On Thursday, 22 state attorneys general signed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Arkansas’ law that bans abortions performed because the unborn child may have Down Syndrome.

In 2019 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 619 prohibiting abortion of an unborn baby solely because the child has Down Syndrome.

At the time, Family Council estimated that Act 619 could save upwards of 100 unborn children in Arkansas every single year.

In response, the ACLU and the state’s only surgical abortion facility sued the State of Arkansas to have the law struck down. Federal courts subsequently blocked Arkansas from enforcing the law.

Even though a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law should remain blocked, two of the judges asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review its precedent on pro-life laws that protect unborn children — like those who may have Down Syndrome — from abortion.

In April Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the nation’s highest court to take up the case.

Now 22 other states have joined the fight to support this good law. The states are:

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • Utah
  • West Virginia

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch writes that Arkansas’ law advances at least eight compelling state interests:

  • Protecting the entire class of persons with Down Syndrome from being targeted for elimination solely because of disability;
  • Eradicating historical animus and bias against persons with Down Syndrome;
  • Safeguarding the integrity of the medical profession by preventing doctors from abandoning their traditional role as healers to become the killers of disabled populations;
  • Drawing a clear boundary against additional eugenic practices targeted at disabled persons and others;
  • Countering the stigma that eugenic abortion currently imposes on persons with disabilities;
  • Ensuring that the existing Down Syndrome community does not become starved of resources for research and care for individuals with Down Syndrome;
  • Protecting against the devaluation of all human life inherent in any decision to target a person for elimination based on an immutable characteristic; and
  • Fostering the diversity of society and protecting society from the incalculable loss that would occur if people with Down Syndrome were eliminated.

Many people are closely watching this court case, because it has the potential to reshape how federal judges treat state abortion laws. It could give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to reverse or amend past rulings like Planned Parenthood v. Casey or June Medical Services v. Russo.

This is an opportunity for Arkansas Attorney General Rutledge and her team to win a big, pro-life victory in court that could help save the lives of unborn children in Arkansas and across the nation.

You can download the brief here.

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Biden’s HHS Secretary Says Federal Law Doesn’t Ban Partial-Birth Abortion

Current Events
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra

On Wednesday President Biden’s federal Health and Human Services Secretary, Xavier Becerra, reportedly told members of congress, “There is no law that deals specifically with the term partial-birth abortion. We have clear precedent in the law on the rights that women have to reproductive health care, and we will follow the law and protect the rights of all Americans to their healthcare”

In 2003 President George W. Bush signed the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.

The law specifically prohibits partial-birth abortion under federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional in 2007.

However, Secretary Becerra claims that federal law does not specifically address partial-birth abortion.

Arkansas’ U.S. Senator Tom Cotton was quick to condemn Becerra’s comments, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation, “It’s no surprise that a pro-abortion radical like Xavier Becerra is trying to ignore the law banning partial-birth abortion—he voted against it when he was a congressman. . . . Becerra is an officer of the United States government. He doesn’t get to pick and choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore.”

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge also released a statement on Twitter, saying,

The Biden administration and Biden’s HHS Secretary are planting their first step in trying to make Partial Birth Abortions legal. As someone who helped pioneer Arkansas as the most pro-life state in the country, I won’t stand for it!

All of this underscores why it’s so important for states like Arkansas to keep passing good, pro-life laws.

In 2009 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 196, The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Act 196 is similar to the federal law congress passed in 2003. It prohibits partial-birth abortion in Arkansas.

Even if the federal ban on partial-birth abortion went away, Arkansas’ law would remain in place, protecting unborn children from abortion.

Back in 2009 some people questioned why Arkansas needed to pass Act 196 if congress had already prohibited partial-birth abortion. But Secretary Becerra’s latest comments show why we should pass pro-life legislation at the state level as well as the federal level.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Murders at VA Hospital Show Why Oversight is Important in Healthcare Facilities

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide,

On Tuesday a former nursing assistant at a VA hospital in West Virginia received seven life sentences for a series of murders she carried out at the hospital in 2017 and 2018.

USA Today writes,

During a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh called Reta Mays, 46, a monster of the “worst kind. You are the monster no one sees coming.” He delivered a life sentence for each murder victim, plus 20 years for an eighth victim she tried to kill. . . .

Mays is not eligible for probation for the seven life sentences, Kleeh said. She was ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

The victims ranged in age from 81 to 96 and served in the Army, Navy and Air Force during World War II and wars in Korea and Vietnam. They died at the hands of the same person, at the same place, in the same way.

According to the article, Mays killed her victims by giving them lethal doses of insulin.

The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly conducted an investigation after the murders came to light, concluding that “serious, pervasive, and deep-rooted clinical and administrative failures” at the hospital allowed the murders to go undetected for nearly a year.

“While responsibility for these criminal acts clearly lies with Ms. Mays, the OIG found inattention and missed opportunities at several junctures, which, if handled differently, might have allowed earlier detection of Ms. Mays’ actions or possibly averted them altogether,” the inspector general’s office concluded.

The murders and the inspector general’s office report illustrate why oversight is so crucial in hospitals, nursing homes, and similar facilities.

Earlier this year the Arkansas House of Representatives defeated H.B. 1685 and H.B. 1686.

These bills would have made it easier to deny food and water to people who are dying; would have made it easier to take patients off life support; and would have made it possible for healthcare workers other than doctors to make decisions about end-of-life care without appropriate training.

There also were concerns that the bills would have reduced oversight in healthcare facilities and made it easier for nursing homes to hide abuse and neglect.

That’s why groups like National Right to Life, Arkansas Right to Life, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA, Family Council, Northwest Arkansas Respect Life, Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents and others opposed these bills.

This story from West Virginia is a chilling reminder of what can happen when healthcare facilities don’t have appropriate safeguards in place. It’s also a reminder of why states need strong laws that protect patients — especially vulnerable patients near the end of life.

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