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. Wadeboth 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.

Arkansas Ranked Fourth Most Pro-life State

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Arkansas has been ranked by Americans United for Life as the fourth most pro-life state in the nation.

On January 12, the Washington, D.C. based pro-life organization released its eleventh annual report ranking the states on how well they protect the safety of women seeking abortions and on the passage of laws that protect the unborn.

The top five states include number-one Oklahoma, followed by Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Nebraska. This marks the eighth year in a row Arkansas has ranked in the top five. For the first time, Americans United for Life also recognized Arkansas as their number-one All Star State for passing seven pro-life laws in 2015.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “Finally, there is a national ranking that Arkansans can be proud of. Several years ago, we set a goal of making Arkansas the most pro-life state in the nation. The Arkansas Legislature, the Governor, and the Attorney General have done yeoman’s work in creating a culture of life that every Arkansan can be proud of. This high national ranking and the fact that Arkansas’ abortion rate is near the lowest it has been since the 1970’s prove the efforts of so many for so long are finally paying off.”

The seven pro-life bills recently passed by the Arkansas Legislature include a law that prevents state funding of abortion clinics; a law that requires a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed; one that strengthens the requirements concerning abortions performed on minors; and a law that requires providers of drug-induced abortions to follow FDA protocols.

Cox noted that while Arkansas needs more pro-life laws on the books, the public needs to get behind volunteer efforts that operate a network of pregnancy and adoption centers established to help women and girls with unplanned pregnancies. “Being pro-life means a lot more than being against abortion,” Cox said. “Being pro-life also means taking good care of the elderly in nursing homes, providing homes for foster children, and viewing every innocent human life as sacred.”

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Abortionists discuss the “Problem” of Aborted Fetal Remains

There’s more to abortion than the procedure itself. There’s also the process of disposing of the aborted baby’s body. That’s a very sensitive topic for many abortion clinics.

Students for Life has released undercover video footage of at a meeting in which abortion clinic workers discuss the “problem” or disposing of the remains of aborted babies.

You can watch the video below.