Federal Judge Orders Pro-Life Laws in Arkansas to Remain Blocked

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Federal Courthouse in Little Rock. (Photo Credit: www.are.uscourts.gov)

Little Rock – On Tuesday U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock ordered four pro-life laws Arkansas passed in 2017 to remain blocked. The laws are Act 45 of 2017 prohibiting certain surgical abortion procedures that dismember a living unborn child; Act 733 of 2017 prohibiting abortions performed due to the baby’s sex; Act 1018 of 2017 requiring abortionists to report abortions performed on any girl under the age of 17 to law enforcement in case the girl turns out to be the victim of sexual assault; and Act 603 of 2017 requiring aborted fetal remains to be disposed of according to the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “This is at least the third time in less than four years that Judge Baker has blocked these good laws. She blocked them in 2017, but a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit unblocked them last August. Judge Baker has given the ACLU and the abortion industry in Arkansas nearly everything it has ever asked for, but the judges above her at the Eighth Circuit have been much more reasonable over the years. With that in mind, I believe it’s likely the Eighth Circuit eventually will overturn her bad ruling.”

Cox said the laws protect women’s health and prevent barbaric abortion practices. “Arkansas’ General Assembly strongly supported these laws in 2017. They protect women from dangerous abortion practices, and they prohibit barbaric abortion procedures that tear living unborn children apart. They also help stop companies from buying and selling organs and tissue harvested from aborted babies, and they protect girls who may be victims of sexual assault. These are good laws, and our courts ought to uphold them. I believe there’s a good possibility that the Eighth Circuit ultimately will do exactly that.”

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Three-Judge Panel Affirms Lower Court Injunction Blocking Two Pro-Life Laws in Arkansas

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On Tuesday a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s injunction that blocked two pro-life laws the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2019.

The laws are:

  • Act 493 of 2019, prohibiting abortion after the eighteenth week of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
  • Act 619 of 2019, prohibiting abortion of an unborn baby solely because the child has Down Syndrome.

These laws passed with overwhelming support from state lawmakers in 2019, but abortionists filed a lawsuit to have them overturned.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued an injunction blocking the state from enforcing the laws. Today a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit affirmed her injunction based on U.S. Supreme Court precedent regarding abortion.

However, Circuit Judge Shepherd and Circuit Judge Erickson both wrote opinions calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to “reevaluate its jurisprudence” regarding abortion and asking the supreme court to revisit its bad Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision.

Judge Erickson even went so far as to note that, “In Western society, there is currently no more threatened population than children with Down syndrome.”

So where do things go from here?

It’s possible the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office will appeal today’s decision to the entire Eighth Circuit. That would give the full Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals an opportunity to weigh in on the laws.

It’s also possible that the ruling will help lawmakers craft better pro-life legislation that will bring us closer to our ultimate goal of ending abortion in Arkansas.

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Bad Bill Filed to Let Pharmacists Dispense Oral Contraceptives in Arkansas

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Last Thursday Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R – Clarksville) and Sen. Breanne Davis (R – Russellville) filed H.B. 1069 letting pharmacists dispense oral contraceptives in Arkansas.

The bill is virtually identical to H.B. 1290 of 2019 — a bill that Family Council opposed at the Arkansas Legislature two years ago.

Family Council opposes this type of legislation primarily for two reasons.

First, oral contraceptives carry a number of health risks — including heart attack, blood clots in the lungs, and bleeding in the brain. That’s why these pills currently require a prescription from a doctor. Letting pharmacists dispense them without the oversight of a physician jeopardizes women’s health.

Second, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration, the hormone in oral contraceptives can cause the death of an unborn child. These drugs not only prevent the conception of unborn children, but they can also prevent an unborn child from implanting inside the mother’s womb, causing the child to die and be miscarried.

H.B. 1069 also contains language requiring pharmacists to refer women to “a women’s healthcare provider.” In 2019 there were concerns that this language might encourage pharmacists to refer women to Planned Parenthood facilities.

In 2019 some supporters of this type of legislation said that it would help address teen pregnancy in Arkansas. The reality is H.B. 1069 fails to adequately address teen pregnancy.

First, the bill doesn’t let pharmacists dispense oral contraceptives to minors. Eighteen and nineteen year old women are the only teenagers who would be able to purchase oral contraceptives from a pharmacist.

Second, we have decades of data demonstrating that laws and programs increasing access to contraceptives don’t reduce teen pregnancy.

A 2017 report by the Heritage Foundation revealed that government programs promoting contraceptives to teenagers have failed to reduce teen pregnancy.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, people like former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, and former Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders promoted contraceptives and comprehensive sex-education programs in public schools as part of a campaign to reduce teen pregnancy. Gov. Clinton’s administration in particular worked to promote and establish school-based health clinics that distributed contraceptives.

In 1997 Arkansas began actively awarding federal grant money to abstinence-based sex education programs. From 1997 – 2003, teen birth rates in Arkansas fell by 16%, and teen abortion rates plummeted by 37%.

When it’s all said and done, legislation like H.B. 1069 simply is not the way to address teen pregnancy in Arkansas.

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