Abortionists Drop Lawsuits Against Arkansas’ Pro-Life Laws

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Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, abortionists are dropping lawsuits against pro-life policies that Arkansas has enacted over the years.

On July 6 attorneys representing Planned Parenthood and Little Rock Family Planning Services — Arkansas’ only licensed abortion facilities — filed a motion asking the federal district court in Little Rock to dismiss their lawsuit voluntarily against Arkansas’ Act 309 of 2021.

Act 309 prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother. The law has been tied up in court since May of last year.

On July 7, Planned Parenthood filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit over the state’s decision to stop paying Medicaid reimbursements to the abortion provider.

In 2015 Governor Hutchinson ordered the state to quit providing Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics after a series of undercover videos showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs and tissue harvested from aborted babies. Planned Parenthood has been working to reinstate the funding ever since.

The ACLU also filed a motion on July 5 asking the federal court in Little Rock to dismiss its lawsuit against a group of pro-life laws the Arkansas Legislature passed in 2017.

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.

These good, pro-life laws have languished in federal court for the past five years.

Since June 24, facilities in Arkansas have stopped aborting unborn children, and state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has certified that abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except in cases when the mother’s life is at risk. In other states, groups like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have sued to keep abortion legal in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe. In Arkansas, however, abortionists appear to be backing down in court for the time being.

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

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Pro-Abortion Terror Group Claims Responsibility for Multiple Attacks Against Pro-Life Charities

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Above: Jane’s Revenge vandalized a pregnancy resource center in Virginia on June 24.

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and paved the way for states to enact their own abortion laws.

Since then the pro-abortion terror group Jane’s Revenge has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against pro-life charities across the country.

The attacks include vandalism at a pregnancy resource center in California; arson at a center in Colorado; a molotov cocktail attack against a Washington pregnancy resource center; and others.

Above: Vandals attacked a pregnancy resource center in California on the night of June 24.

Members of Congress and the U.S. Senate have condemned Jane’s Revenge and called for investigations into the terror group.

In one manifesto dated June 26, the pro-abortion terror group threatened to escalate the violence, writing,

This attack is nothing in comparison to what is in store for you. Some spray paint will be the least of your worries. For decades you have bombed abortion clinics and murdered doctors. We fight not just for abortion rights, but for trans liberation, ecological harmony, decolonization, the destruction of white supremacy and capitalism, and the uprooting of the entire global civilization.

We will hunt you down and make your lives a living hell. You started this war but we will win it. So far its just been pregnancy crisis centers, but tomorrow it might be your cars, your homes, or even your lives. We support a diversity of tactics and we will not step down in this fight.

Above: On June 24 Family Council boarded over windows at its office in downtown Little Rock in anticipation of possible violence. While there has been no pro-abortion violence in Little Rock, the windows have remained covered as the possibility of violence persists.

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

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What Does Arkansas’ Abortion Ban Actually Say?

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Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (left) and Family Council President Jerry Cox hold the official certification that Roe is reversed and Act 180 of 2019 is in effect.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified that Act 180 of 2019 prohibiting abortion except to save the life of the mother is in effect.

Family Council worked in support of Act 180 with our friends in the Arkansas Legislature and with other pro-life organizations.

Below is a brief overview of the law:

  • Act 180 is a “trigger law” that was designed to take effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
  • Act 180 prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the mother’s life.
  • It says anyone who performs an illegal abortion can be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
  • It does not prosecute a woman who has an illegal abortion.
  • It doesn’t criminalize miscarriage.
  • The law permits procedures to remove an unborn baby who has died as a result of a miscarriage.
  • It doesn’t apply to ectopic pregnancies.
  • Act 180 doesn’t prohibit an OB/GYN from inducing labor or performing an emergency C-section.
  • It contains clear exceptions for contraception—including the “morning after” pill or Plan B.
  • Act 180 doesn’t prevent a pregnant woman from receiving medical treatments—such as chemotherapy—that carry risk for the unborn child.

Act 180 of 2019 had 47 legislative sponsors and co-sponsors.

Three-quarters of the Arkansas Legislature voted in favor of the measure, and Governor Hutchinson signed it on February 19, 2019.

Public opinion polling shows 79% of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

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

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

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