ACLJ Files Brief in Support of Arkansas’ Pro-Life Law

Earlier this month the American Center for Law and Justice filed an amicus brief in support of Arkansas’ law that prohibits abortions performed solely because the baby may have Down Syndrome — Act 619 of 2019.

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

The law has been tangled up in court ever since, and the State of Arkansas currently is blocked from enforcing it.

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.

So far 22 state attorneys general as well as sitting congressmen and U.S. senators have filed briefs in support of the law. Now the American Center for Law and Justice has come out in defense of the law as well.

The ACLJ brief notes:

[T]here are countless instances in which parents were told a child would be born with severe or fatal disabilities, when in fact the child turned out to be either perfectly healthy or had manageable, or even only minor, conditions. This has specifically happened regarding a false diagnosis of Down syndrome or related maladies.

This could turn out to be a landmark abortion case, because it has the potential to reshape how federal judges treat pro-life 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 in Arkansas — and everywhere else in America.

Read the ACLJ’s brief here.

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

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.