Abortion in Arkansas Remains Near Historic Lows

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Little Rock, Ark. — On Wednesday the Arkansas Department of Health released its annual reports on the number of abortions performed in the state.

The report shows that 3,154 abortions occurred in Arkansas in 2020.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “Abortion in Arkansas is near historic lows. Abortion in Arkansas hasn’t been this low since the late 1970s, and Arkansas is the most pro-life state in America according to Americans United for Life. Arkansans are winning the fight against abortion.”

Cox noted that teen abortion remained at an all time low in 2020. “In the 1990s teenagers were among those who were most likely to have an abortion. Today they are some of the least likely to have one. The number of abortions performed in Arkansas has been cut in half since 1991. Overall, the state’s abortion rate has plummeted. That’s all really great news.”

Cox said the reports also show Arkansas’ informed-consent laws have helped women choose options besides abortion. “Arkansas has one of the best informed-consent laws in America. It requires abortionists to give women all the facts about abortion up front, including abortion’s risks, consequences, and alternatives. They also have to give women plenty of time to consider all options before making a final decision. We estimate from these reports that between 500 and 600 women chose not to have abortions last year after receiving this information.”

Cox praised the Arkansas Legislature for enacting good legislation that protects unborn children. “Arkansas’ lawmakers have passed some of the best pro-life laws in the country. Governor Hutchinson has signed every pro-life law that has come across his desk, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has defended them in court. This year the state passed several laws that will protect unborn children and give our courts an opportunity to overturn bad decisions like Roe v. Wade. These latest reports simply show that we are winning the fight against abortion in our state.”

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Texas Passes Pro-Life “Heartbeat Bill” Similar to Arkansas’

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This week Texas passed a good, pro-life law prohibiting abortion if the unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected.

It’s similar to a law Arkansas passed a little over eight years ago.

In 2013 the Arkansas Legislature passed S.B. 134 by Sen. Jason Rapert generally prohibiting abortion after the twelfth week of pregnancy if a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Pro-abortion groups filed a lawsuit to block the state from enforcing this good, pro-life measure.

In the end, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck most of the law, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

However, the courts left the law’s informed-consent requirements in place, and some parts of the Eighth Circuit’s ruling actually gave Arkansas a framework for passing additional pro-life legislation in 2015 and 2017.

If Texas’ law is challenged, it’s possible their courts will rule differently and we could all get a pro-life victory out of the case.

All of this underscores that slowly, but surely, we are winning the fight against abortion.

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Arkansas’ Congressional Delegation Files Brief Supporting State’s Down Syndrome Abortion Ban

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U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R – Arkansas) is one of the primary authors of the amicus brief.

Recently we wrote about how 22 states filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Arkansas’ law generally prohibiting abortions performed because the baby may have Down Syndrome.

Earlier this month U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman and U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, Bruce Westerman, Steve Womack, and French Hill filed an amicus brief in support of the law as well.

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

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

The ACLU and the state’s only surgical abortion facility promptly sued the State of Arkansas to have the law struck down. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently blocked Arkansas from enforcing the law.

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 Arkansas’ congressional delegation and their colleagues in Washington are asking the supreme court to uphold this good, pro-life law as well.

Among other things, the brief argues that Arkansas’s law intends to combat discrimination against unborn children with disabilities. It says that an abortion performed because a baby might have Down Syndrome amounts to eugenics, and it argues that Congress has a longstanding interest in protecting Americans with disabilities.

“Having Down syndrome—or any other disability—’doesn’t make anyone less human,'” the brief says. “Arkansas recognizes that and so should this Court.”

This could be a pivotal case, because it has the potential to reshape how federal judges treat state abortion laws like Act 619 of 2019.

It could give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to overturn past rulings like Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

That would be a huge victory for pro-lifers everywhere in America.

You can download the brief here.

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