FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 27, 2016
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Whole Woman’s Health decision regarding abortion laws in Texas. The court effectively struck Texas laws requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers.
Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “Contrary to what some are saying, this is not a major victory for abortion. This is a mild setback for the pro-life movement. It in no way diminishes the victories we have had, and it likely will not have much impact on legislation that is filed in Arkansas when the legislature convenes in 2017. While the court’s decision regarding admitting privileges may prevent lawmakers from reintroducing similar legislation in Arkansas, there are at least a dozen more improvements that need to be made to Arkansas’ existing pro-life laws.
“For example, we need to be certain the Health Department is doing the best job possible inspecting abortion facilities, and we need to be certain that the results of those inspections are made public to ensure clinics operate as responsibly as possible. We also need to be certain abortion providers adequately inform women regarding abortion’s risks and alternatives. And the State of Arkansas needs to do all it can do to help women with unplanned pregnancies so that their children can be adopted or cared for rather than aborted.”
Cox also said the pro-life movement is alive and well. “Gallup recently found half of American adults think abortion ought to be legal only under certain circumstances, and another nineteen percent think abortion ought to be illegal completely. Altogether, that’s sixty-nine percent of Americans who think abortion ought to be illegal in some or all circumstances. Last year alone the number of abortions in Arkansas dropped by over five hundred. This is living proof the pro-life movement is gaining ground.”
Cox also noted today’s court ruling undermines constitutional liberty. “In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke the truth when he effectively said the Supreme Court is eroding the U.S. Constitution by saying a woman has a constitutional right to have someone take the life of her healthy, unborn child. The court keeps bending its own rules to churn out rulings like this one. When it does that, the U.S. Supreme Court is undermining the principles of our Constitution.”
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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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