Arkansas’ First Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanksgiving

thomas_drew_fAs Thanksgiving approaches, we want to take time to highlight a piece of Arkansas history: The very first Thanksgiving proclamation issued after Arkansas became a state.

The proclamation issued by Arkansas’ third governor, Governor Thomas Drew, set aside Thursday, December 8, 1847, as a day of thanksgiving. The proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas, an all wise and merciful Providence has dispensed blessings of the most bountiful and diversified character among the people of this state, in the abundance of the various agricultural crops, the universal prosperity of our people and their unexampled good health, it is deemed worthy of a greatful people to make public manifestation of their sense of the renewed obligations under which we have been placed, by the appointment of a day of general THANKSGIVING throughout the state.

Be it known, therefore, that I, Thomas S. Drew, Governor of the State of Arkansas, have appointed Thursday, the 9th day of December next as a day of THANKSGIVING, which is hereby proclaimed and recommended to the good of people in every county and town in the state as a fit day and proper time to acquit ourselves, each and every one, of a high and praiseworthy duty to the Bountiful and Merciful Providence.

Given under my hand at Little Rock and to which is affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas, this 12th day of October, 1847, and the Independence of the United States the seventy-second year.

By the Governor,
Thomas S. Drew

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Judge Forces State to List Same-Sex Couples’ Names on Birth Certificates

Homosexuality,

Today Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox issued a ruling forcing the State of Arkansas to put the names of three same-sex couples on children’s birth certificates.

Each couple has been legally married since the U.S. Supreme Court redefined marriage last summer, and each has a child conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.

In each case, only one spouse—the woman who actually gave birth to the child—is a biological parent of the child. According to the Department of Health, only the biological mother of the child may be listed on the child’s birth certificate; you cannot list the name of a second, unrelated “mother” on the certificate.

The three couples each sued the state, and today Judge Fox ruled in their favor, saying the the birth certificates can be amended to list a second “mother.”

Here’s the problem: Birth certificates exist to record that a child was born and who the child’s parents are—not who happens to be married to one of the child’s biological parents.

Birth certificates are not simply pieces of paper. They are vital records that need to be accurate and deserve respect. We should be careful not to let them become mere political ploys.

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U.S. Supreme Court Seriously Considering AR Pro-Life Law

Abortion, , ,

Last October Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge sent a request to the U.S. Supreme Court asking them to review the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Law.

Portions of the law were struck by lower federal courts, but A.G. Rutledge is asking the Supreme Court for a hearing to determine the law’s constitutionality. Progress is being made on that hearing; earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court asked opponents of the law to respond to the A.G.’s request by December 10.

As the A.G.’s office notes, this shows the U.S. Supreme Court is giving the issue “serious consideration.”

The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act was sponsored by Sen. Jason Rapert in 2013; it originally prevented most abortions after the twelfth week of pregnancy. Portions of the law pertaining to informed-consent prior to an abortion are still in place, but the provisions preventing a doctor from performing an abortion after the twelfth week of pregnancy if a fetal heartbeat is detected were struck down.

The A.G.’s  office asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review and uphold the entire law as constitutional last October; a review would set the stage for the court to revise or overturn key elements of past abortion decisions, such as Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

 

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