Tag: Sanctity of Human Life

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review AR Abortion Law

Today the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a law Arkansas passed in 2013 preventing most abortions after the twelfth week of pregnancy when a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The law was partially struck by a lower court in 2014; the Attorney General’s office petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse the lower court rulings against the law, but the Supreme Court has decided not to do so.

Specifically, the lower court rulings treated the provisions of the law dealing with informed-consent prior to an abortion as constitutional; however, the portions preventing most abortions after the twelfth week of pregnancy were ruled unconstitutional.

A hearing on the 2013 law at the U.S. Supreme Court would have set the stage for the court to reexamine past cases dealing with abortion, including Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade—both of which we have written about here.

The U.S. Supreme Court cannot ignore this issue forever. The “viability rule,” which makes it difficult for states to regulate abortion procedures prior to the point an unborn baby becomes “viable,” was established in the Casey decision. It is, as Attorney General Rutledge argued, an arbitrary rule and lacks a firm foundation. As state laws and advances in medical science continue, the “viability rule” will be challenged. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court will have to reevaluate it. For now, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to do so.

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is not related to the two lawsuits Planned Parenthood is involved in against the State of Arkansas.

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President Vetoes Bill Defunding Abortion Providers

Earlier this week Congress sent a bill to President Obama pulling most public funding of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and repealing much of Obamacare.

Today President Obama vetoed the legislation. This move by the president is not entirely unexpected–and it is unclear whether Congress has the votes necessary to override the president’s veto.

However, if nothing else, Congress is signaling it may be ready to tackle tough issues like repealing Obamacare and defunding abortion clinics when President Obama’s successor takes office next year.

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Judge Issues Eleventh-Hour Order Against Pro-Life Law

On New Year’s Day, Act 577–the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act–was set to go into effect; the law passed by the Arkansas Legislature last spring requires abortion doctors to follow the FDA’s protocols when performing drug-induced abortions, and it requires abortion clinics to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital to handle complications that arise from the abortion.

Late in the afternoon of December 31, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining order blocking these two portions of the law. The restraining order will last 14 days, giving the State of Arkansas and Planned Parenthood more time to prepare and present arguments in the case.

According to the Attorney General’s office, the restraining order only affects Planned Parenthood of the Heartland; no other abortion clinics are impacted by the ruling–meaning the surgical abortion clinic in Little Rock must follow the new law.

Under the federal Food and Drug Administration’s protocols, doctors may only administer abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486 through the seventh week of pregnancy; however many abortion clinics disregard the FDA’s protocols by offering the drugs as late as the ninth week of pregnancy.

Abortion-inducing drugs are typically given in two rounds. The first round poisons the unborn baby; the second causes the baby to be expelled from the woman’s body. Under the FDA protocols, both rounds of drugs must be administered by the physician at the clinic, but many doctors disregard the FDA’s protocols by allowing the woman to take the second round of drugs at home, without any medical supervision. This presents serious risks for women who experience complications as a result of the drugs.

Also, many doctors administer lower dosages of the abortion-inducing drugs than the FDA protocols require. Many believe this makes it more likely a woman will experience complications resulting from the abortion.

Requiring abortion clinics to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital arguably is not an undue burden. As it stands, women who experience complications resulting from an abortion are referred to the nearest Emergency Room. These complications can be life-threatening. E.R. doctors have had no prior contact with these women, presenting obstacles in terms of continuity and quality of care. The Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act helps address these concerns.

Critics of the new law claim it will prevent them from dispensing abortion-inducing drugs. That simply is not true. The new law requires doctors and abortion clinics to follow the FDA’s protocols when administering these drugs–which is hardly burdensome–and maintain a relationship with a physician who has admitting privileges at a local hospital–which may help save the lives of women who experience complications as a result of these abortion-inducing drugs. This is just commonsense. It isn’t the legislature’s fault if a clinic can’t or won’t follow the law.

Perhaps Governor Asa Hutchinson said it best last week:

“As made evident by their lawsuit, Planned Parenthood places a premium on the convenience of abortion providers over the health and welfare of women seeking these procedures.”

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