Sanctity of Human Life – Page 78

Arkansas Representative Says Lawmakers Will Introduce Legislation to Amend State’s Pro-Life Law

Sep 9, 2022Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

*Above: Rep. Nicole Clowney (D – Fayetteville) discusses efforts to introduce legislation in Arkansas to add exceptions to state laws against abortion (Photo Credit: YouTube).*

On Tuesday State Representative Nicole Clowney (D – Fayetteville) participated in a discussion panel on abortion at the Fayetteville Public Library.

During the panel, Rep. Clowney said that her colleagues in the general assembly will introduce at least four measures during the upcoming legislative session that would change the exceptions in Arkansas’ abortion law.

Act 180 of 2019 prohibits abortion in Arkansas unless the mother’s life is at risk. It also contains language exempting situations such as ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage.

Rep. Clowney was part of panel hosted by the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965 — a union for employees at the U of A in Fayetteville.

During the panel, Rep. Clowney said she anticipates four different measures amending Act 180 to be introduced during the upcoming legislative session:

One measure would add exceptions for rape to the law.
A second would add exceptions for incest to the law.
A third measure would add exceptions for lethal fetal anomaly to the law.
A fourth measure would change the exception for the life of the mother into an exception for abortions “caring for the health of the mother.”

Taken together, these changes would upend the state’s pro-life laws and could open the door to abortion on demand in Arkansas.

In other states, exceptions for a woman’s health or for fetal abnormalities have been interpreted very broadly.

Health exceptions in particular could apply to nearly any situation. That is part of the reason why Arkansas’ pro-life laws historically have exempted situations where the the mother’s life is at risk rather than situations where an abortionist believes her health is somehow being affected by the pregnancy.

These sorts of broad exceptions may effectively permit elective abortions in Arkansas.

As we have written before, rape and incest are evil. A woman who is raped is a victim in every sense of the word, but the unborn baby is totally innocent. Abortion doesn’t heal the wounds that rape or incest leave behind, and sexual predators may actually coerce their victims into having abortions to conceal rape or incest. It is not right to kill an unborn baby because the baby’s father was a rapist.

Public opinion polling shows Arkansans overwhelmingly oppose abortion. Seventy-nine percent of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion should be either completely illegal — without exception — or legal only under certain circumstances.

Act 180 of 2019 reflects that. It generally prohibits abortion, but it makes exceptions for certain serious medical complications like an ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage and for circumstances when the mother’s life is in jeopardy.

Below is a video recording of Rep. Clowney’s comments regarding legislative efforts to amend Arkansas’ pro-life laws.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

CNN Singles Out Pro-Life Democrats in Arkansas, Elsewhere

Sep 7, 2022Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Tuesday CNN published a column singling out pro-life Democrats in state legislatures around the country.

The piece — titled, “Republicans have unlikely allies in their fight to restrict abortion at the state level: Democrats” — notes that “More than 140 Democrats from eight of the roughly dozen states with the most restrictive abortion laws voted in favor of the bans, and the vast majority of these state lawmakers were men.”

The piece goes on to single out various Democratic legislators around the country who voted pro-life — including former Arkansas lawmaker Bruce Maloch of Magnolia who voted for Act 180 of 2019 that generally prohibits abortion now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade.

The article notes,

In Arkansas, four of the state’s 29 Democrats voted in 2019 to pass the trigger ban that criminalized abortion under nearly all circumstances. They were all men. That same year, 14 male and five female Democrats in Kentucky voted for a similar state ban, representing nearly 40% of all Democrats in the state legislature at the time. And in Mississippi, nine male Democratic lawmakers voted in 2018 to pass the 15-week abortion ban that ultimately led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The laws received almost unanimous support from Republicans, except for a single no vote in Arkansas.

Anyone who is surprised that a Democratic legislator would vote pro-life clearly hasn’t been paying attention.

Abortion used to be a bipartisan issue. Up until recent years plenty of pro-lifers could be found in both parties — especially in Arkansas.

For example, in 2011 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1176 requiring any facility performing 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed and inspected by the Arkansas Department of Health. The measure closed loopholes in Arkansas’ abortion laws, and it made it easier for the state to stop a facility from performing abortions. The bill had strong, bipartisan support in the Arkansas House and Arkansas Senate.

In 2013 lawmakers passed six pro-life measures — including Act 171 of 2013 that generally prohibits abortions after the 20^th week of pregnancy and Act 301 prohibiting most abortions after the 12^th week of pregnancy if a baby’s heartbeat is detected.

These bills had enough bipartisan support that lawmakers successfully voted to override vetoes from Gov. Mike Beebe and pass them into law.

CNN tries to distinguish how men vote on abortion laws from how women vote, but women from both parties have sponsored, co-sponsored, or voted for pro-life legislation in Arkansas over the years.

The vast majority of likely voters in Arkansas believe that abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances. The same is true for Americans in general.

Protecting women and unborn children from abortion should not be a partisan issue.

Life is a human right. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, Arkansas is protecting the right to life and supporting women with unplanned pregnancies.

Family Council looks forward to continuing to work with Arkansans to protect the lives of women and children in the future.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Stacey Abrams, the Bible, and Abortion Rights

Sep 5, 2022John StonestreetAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Recently, in a speech at a Georgia church, rising progressive star Stacey Abrams, after noting that her parents had been pastors, declared, “I was trained to read and understand the Bible, and I will tell you this, there is nothing about the decision to eliminate access to abortion care that is grounded in anything other than cruelty and meanness.”

However, the way the Bible speaks of preborn children eliminates abortion as a moral option. In Psalm 139, the psalmist declares, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The Prophet Jeremiah was told by God, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” And in one of the most beautiful moments in Holy Scripture, John the Baptist, still in Elizabeth’s womb, leapt when in the presence of Jesus, still in Mary’s womb.

Test everything, the Scripture says. Especially those who claim to speak for God.