Bad Bill Filed to Let Pharmacists Dispense Oral Contraceptives in Arkansas

Legislation, Legislature, , , ,

Last Thursday Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R – Clarksville) and Sen. Breanne Davis (R – Russellville) filed H.B. 1069 letting pharmacists dispense oral contraceptives in Arkansas.

The bill is virtually identical to H.B. 1290 of 2019 — a bill that Family Council opposed at the Arkansas Legislature two years ago.

Family Council opposes this type of legislation primarily for two reasons.

First, oral contraceptives carry a number of health risks — including heart attack, blood clots in the lungs, and bleeding in the brain. That’s why these pills currently require a prescription from a doctor. Letting pharmacists dispense them without the oversight of a physician jeopardizes women’s health.

Second, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration, the hormone in oral contraceptives can cause the death of an unborn child. These drugs not only prevent the conception of unborn children, but they can also prevent an unborn child from implanting inside the mother’s womb, causing the child to die and be miscarried.

H.B. 1069 also contains language requiring pharmacists to refer women to “a women’s healthcare provider.” In 2019 there were concerns that this language might encourage pharmacists to refer women to Planned Parenthood facilities.

In 2019 some supporters of this type of legislation said that it would help address teen pregnancy in Arkansas. The reality is H.B. 1069 fails to adequately address teen pregnancy.

First, the bill doesn’t let pharmacists dispense oral contraceptives to minors. Eighteen and nineteen year old women are the only teenagers who would be able to purchase oral contraceptives from a pharmacist.

Second, we have decades of data demonstrating that laws and programs increasing access to contraceptives don’t reduce teen pregnancy.

A 2017 report by the Heritage Foundation revealed that government programs promoting contraceptives to teenagers have failed to reduce teen pregnancy.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, people like former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, and former Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders promoted contraceptives and comprehensive sex-education programs in public schools as part of a campaign to reduce teen pregnancy. Gov. Clinton’s administration in particular worked to promote and establish school-based health clinics that distributed contraceptives.

In 1997 Arkansas began actively awarding federal grant money to abstinence-based sex education programs. From 1997 – 2003, teen birth rates in Arkansas fell by 16%, and teen abortion rates plummeted by 37%.

When it’s all said and done, legislation like H.B. 1069 simply is not the way to address teen pregnancy in Arkansas.

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Federal Judge Again Blocks Arkansas From Enforcing Pro-Life Laws

Abortion, , ,

On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining preventing the State of Arkansas from enforcing four pro-life laws the legislature passed in 2017.

The four pro-life laws are:

  • Act 45 of 2017 prohibiting certain surgical abortion procedures that dismember a living unborn child.
  • Act 733 of 2017 prohibiting abortions performed due to the baby’s sex.
  • Act 1018 of 2017 requiring abortionists to report abortions performed on any girl under the age of 17 to the State Crime Lab in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault.
  • Act 603 of 2017 prohibiting biomedical and behavioral research on aborted fetal remains and requiring aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.

This is the second time in three years that U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has blocked these laws.

After the ACLU sued to have the laws struck down, Judge Baker blocked the laws from going into effect in 2017

However, a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted her injunction last August, and last week the Eighth Circuit denied the ACLU’s request for a re-hearing before the entire court.

This week the ACLU asked Judge Baker to issue a temporary restraining order against the four laws. The group also asked her to enjoin the laws altogether.

Judge Baker’s restraining order will last until Tuesday, January 5. Between now and then she will have the option of issuing a preliminary injunction that will block the laws while the lawsuit surrounding them continues.

Judge Baker has given the abortionists in Arkansas practically everything they have ever asked for in court — and we have seen her rulings overturned by the Eighth Circuit.

In fact last April the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a writ of mandamus against Judge Baker saying she overstepped her judicial authority after she decided to let abortionists in Little Rock continue operating in spite of state directives ordering elective surgical abortions to be postponed due to COVID-19.

In light of that, it’s no surprise that Judge Baker has blocked Arkansas from enforcing these good, pro-life laws.

However, there is a good possibility that the Eighth Circuit ultimately will reverse her decision and pave the way for these laws to go into effect — which could save hundreds of unborn children in Arkansas every single year.

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ACLU Files Motion to Block Four Pro-Life Laws in Arkansas

Abortion, , ,

On Monday the ACLU filed a motion in federal court to block four pro-life laws from going into effect in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Legislature enacted these laws in 2017, but they have been tied up in litigation ever since.

The laws are:

  • Act 45 of 2017 prohibiting certain surgical abortion procedures that dismember a living unborn child.
  • Act 733 of 2017 prohibiting abortions performed due to the baby’s sex.
  • Act 1018 of 2017 requiring abortionists to report abortions performed on any girl under the age of 17 to the State Crime Lab in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault.
  • Act 603 of 2017 prohibiting biomedical and behavioral research on aborted fetal remains and requiring aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker initially blocked the laws from going into effect in 2017, but a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted her injunction last August.

Last week the Eighth Circuit denied the ACLU’s request for a re-hearing before the entire court.

Now the ACLU has asked the federal district court in Little Rock for a temporary restraining order against the four laws.

If granted, a temporary restraining order would prevent the State of Arkansas from enforcing these laws until the ACLU could challenge them further in court.

These are good laws that protect women from dangerous abortion practices and will save the lives of hundreds of unborn children every year.

Without a restraining order, the laws would go into effect tomorrow. However, the ACLU’s latest motion likely means the laws will remain tied up in litigation for the time being.

That said, so far these laws have fared very well in court, and they can’t remain in court forever. Eventually the courts will have to rule on the laws, and there’s a good possibility that all four of them will be upheld.

Below is a timeline of the legislative history and legal challenge surrounding these laws over the past four years:

  • January 26, 2017: The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 45 prohibiting some dismemberment abortion procedures, and sent the bill to Governor Hutchinson to be signed into law. Arkansas’ laws prohibiting sex-selection abortion, expanding the reporting requirements for abortions performed on underage girls, and prohibiting the buying and selling of aborted babies passed in the following weeks.
  • June 20, 2017: The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging these four pro-life laws in court.
  • July 28, 2017: U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction blocking the State of Arkansas from enforcing these four laws. Judge Baker issued the injunction before the laws could go into effect. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • March 19, 2020: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals indicated it would not make a decision on Judge Baker’s injunction until after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the June Medical Services v. Russo case. The Supreme Court’s decision in that case was expected to have implications for other pro-life laws.
  • June 29, 2020: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana pro-life law in its June Medical Services v. Russo ruling.
  • August 7, 2020: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker’s preliminary injunction against the laws. The Eighth Circuit sent Arkansas’ pro-life laws back down to Judge Baker’s court for reconsideration in light of nuances in the June Medical Services decision. The ACLU appealed that decision to the entire Eighth Circuit.
  • December 15, 2020: The Eighth Circuit declined to re-hear the ACLU’s case against the laws before the entire court.
  • December 21, 2020: The ACLU asked the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas for a temporary restraining order against the laws.

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