Urging Sen. Mark Pryor to Back Pro-Life Bill

The following is a press release from Susan B. Anthony List and Family Council.

Washington, D.C – This week the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) and the Arkansas Family Council will launch a statewide grassroots campaign to call on Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) to co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670). The bill, introduced in November by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), has 40 cosponsors including Arkansas’ Senator John Boozman, and would protect babies beginning at 20 weeks, or more than halfway through pregnancy. The week-long campaign encompasses Wednesday’s 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and will mobilize pro-lifers to call Sen. Pryor’s in-state offices.

Most recently when asked about the legislation by National Review, Senator Pryor “looked at [at the reporter], sort of smiled, said nothing, and kept walking.” Similarly, Pryor’s office has refused to answer similar questions from Talk Business Arkansas. Pryor’s 2014 senatorial opponent, Congressman Tom Cotton, voted for the companion legislation which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last June.

“Arkansans deserve to know where Senator Pryor stands when it comes to protecting unborn children and their mothers from the painful death of abortion more than halfway through pregnancy,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The majority of Americans are opposed to brutal, late abortion – and women support this bill in even higher numbers than men. Senator Pryor should do the right thing: honor the strength and dignity of women and protect the weak and vulnerable from pain. We urge him to respect life and the pro-life people of Arkansas by cosponsoring this compassionate legislation.”

“Arkansas is the third most pro-life state in the nation,” said Family Council President Jerry Cox. “I am disappointed every time our elected officials refuse to stand up for the weakest members of our society—the unborn.  The appropriate response to late-term abortions should be outrage rather than silence from our elected officials. This is why we are asking Senator Pryor to co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

Last year national polling by Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News all found that a plurality or majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks gestation and that women support the measure in higher proportions than men.

Before the bill was introduced, Senator Pryor told The Weekly Standard: “I’ll have to look at it. I haven’t focused on it.” In 2003, Senator Pryor voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

The Susan B. Anthony List, is dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women.  The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.

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Abortion Advocates Give Arkansas an “F”

NARAL, the National Abortion Rights Action League, has given Arkansas an “F” when it comes to passing pro-abortion legislation.

In their report, The State of Choice in the States, the pro-abortion group singled out Arkansas as the state that passed the largest number of abortion-restricting laws in 2013.

Altogether, NARAL gave 25 states a failing grade when it came to passing pro-abortion laws. The group acknowledged that 2013 saw 53 “anti-choice” bills passed nationwide, and that 807 “anti-choice” laws had been passed in the U.S. since 1995.

According to the report, 97% of Arkansas’ counties have no abortion providers. That number is surpassed only by North and South Dakota at 98% and Mississippi, a state where 99% of its counties have no abortion centers.

This “Failing” grade from NARAL comes right on the heels of Americans United For Life ranking Arkansas the third most pro-life state in the nation.

Click here for more information.

See the State of Choice in the States report here.

Come to the March for Life This Sunday

The 36th Annual March for Life will take place this Sunday, January 19, at 2:00 p.m. in Little Rock.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to join with other pro-life Arkansans by visibly supporting the sanctity of human life.

Details about the March:

  • The March will start at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
  • The March will begin at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Wolfe Street behind the Capitol Building in Little Rock; the staging area will be on Capitol Avenue between Wolfe Street and Battery (behind the Capitol Building).
  • Reserved parking will be available on Wolfe Street for seniors, disabled, or families with small children. Additional parking will be available in the open lots from Marshall to Summit streets or in front of the Capitol Building.

For more information, check out arkansasmarchforlife.com.

We hope you will come join us as we march to end abortion.