Arkansas A.G. Signs Amicus Brief Against Biden Administration’s Pro-Abortion Effort in Texas

On Wednesday, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joined other state A.G.’s in filing an amicus brief against the Biden Administration’s attempt to thwart Texas’ pro-life heartbeat law.

Texas enacted the law earlier this year. It generally prohibits abortion after an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected. As a result of the law, abortion facilities in Texas have been closed for the past several weeks.

However, the Biden Administration has taken legal action to block the law.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is spearheading that effort in federal court.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Rutledge and others filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, saying,

The Attorney General [Merrick Garland] has no authority to act as a roving reviser of state law, challenging as unconstitutional any rule with which he disagrees. Congress has repeatedly refused to grant him such authority; this Court should refuse to do so as well.

It’s good to see Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and her team continuing to take a strong stand against the Biden Administration’s pro-abortion policies.

This case could have significant implications for pro-life laws in Arkansas and elsewhere.

Planned Parenthood Announces It Will Fight Any Texas-Style “Heartbeat” Legislation in Arkansas

Above: Planned Parenthood’s chemical abortion facility in Little Rock.

According to the Arkansas Times, this week Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes announced it will strongly oppose any effort to introduce a pro-life heartbeat law at the Arkansas Legislature like the one recently enacted in Texas.

The Texas law generally prohibits abortion after an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected. As a result of the law, abortion facilities in Texas have been closed for the past several weeks.

If Arkansas does not pass a Texas-style heartbeat law, then we could see more women travel to Little Rock from out-of-state for abortions — much like we did during the COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020.

Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) has indicated that he hopes to introduce a Texas-style heartbeat law during an upcoming special session of the Arkansas Legislature. Sen. Rapert successfully secured passage of a heartbeat law in 2013, but the federal courts struck down most of that law.

Planned Parenthood operates two facilities in Arkansas.

The Little Rock facility performs drug-induced abortions that poison unborn children in the womb. Planned Parenthood recently opened a center in Rogers, and has said it hopes that location will be licensed to perform abortions by the end of this year.

Planned Parenthood’s strategy for opposing a Texas-style heartbeat measure in Arkansas appears to be threefold:

  1. Launching an aggressive statewide campaign to defeat any Texas-style heartbeat law in Arkansas.
  2. Communicating with more than 20,000 Arkansans about the legislation.
  3. Hosting events across the state to oppose the legislation.

Planned Parenthood’s statement indicates it has hired additional staff to carry out its agenda in Arkansas.

Planned Parenthood almost certainly faces an uphill battle when it comes to opposing pro-life legislation in Arkansas.

This year the state legislature passed more pro-life laws than any other state in America — including a law that prohibits virtually all abortions in Arkansas — despite opposition from Planned Parenthood and others. These new laws could save thousands of women and unborn children from abortion for years to come.

Public opinion polling shows Arkansans are overwhelmingly pro-life, and most believe abortion ought to be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

Arkansas’ abortion numbers have been in decline since the 1990s. In fact, as of last year the number of abortions performed annually in Arkansas remains near historic lows.

Slowly but surely Arkansans are winning the fight to end abortion.