Arkansas A.G. Continues Defending SAFE Act in Federal Court

Transgender, , ,

Last week Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed a supplemental letter with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation — or SAFE — Act is a 2021 law the Arkansas Legislature passed to protect children from sex-reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and similar procedures.

These procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life. Doctors do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones might have on people, but files recently leaked from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) organization make it clear that medical professionals performing gender-transitions on kids have been fully aware that these procedures can lead to lasting regret and painful complications — some of which may even be life-threatening.

In the past four years, a major hospital in Sweden has announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, the U.K. has adopted policies that protect children from puberty blockers, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience swelling in the brain.

Unfortunately, Arkansas’ SAFE Act has been tied up in court for more than three years, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing the law. However, attorneys for the State of Arkansas have asked the Eighth Circuit to reverse that decision.

On November 18, attorneys from the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office filed a supplemental letter with the Eighth Circuit pointing out that federal courts had allowed Indiana to enforce its law protecting children from sex-change procedures. The A.G.’s team says the decision underscores why the Eighth Circuit should let Arkansas enforce the SAFE Act.

Reports show doctors in Arkansas have given dozens of children puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones, and some children even have undergone sex-change surgeries. Arkansas needs to protect children from sex-reassignment. We applaud Attorney General Tim Griffin and his team for defending the SAFE Act. We believe our courts ultimately will recognize the SAFE Act is a good law and uphold it as constitutional.

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

READ MORE

Walmart Becomes Latest Corporation to Roll Back Pro-LGBT, DEI Policies

Transgender, ,

News outlets report Walmart is the latest company to roll back pro-LGBT “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies in the face of public backlash.

The Associated Press reports that the retail giant also will stop participating in the Human Right’s Campaign’s “Corporate Equality Index” that rates how pro-LGBT different corporations are.

Walmart is not the only major corporation to move away from radical DEI and pro-LGBT policies.

Newsweek reports Toyota has announced that it will withdraw from HRC’s corporate equality index along with other DEI measurements.

This year Target quietly reduced its LGBT Pride-themed merchandise as a result of backlash from its customers.

Home-improvement giant Lowe’s recently revised its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies amidst growing pushback from consumers, and in July, John Deere — the world’s largest seller of farm equipment — announced it was moving away from pro-LGBT and pro-DEI activity as well.

It’s deeply troubling when multimillion dollar corporations use their wealth and influence to promote radical, pro-LGBT ideas, but it’s also encouraging when companies like Walmart rethink their positions and change course. With that in mind, we believe Walmart is making the right decision.

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

READ MORE

Bad Bill Would Prohibit Healthcare Professionals From Helping People Overcome Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction, Gender Confusion

Transgender, ,

On Wednesday Rep. Andrew Collins (D – Little Rock) filed a bill prohibiting so-called “conversion therapy” in Arkansas.

H.B. 1032 would prevent healthcare professionals from helping people overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion.

However, the bill would permit pro-LGBT counseling.

In other words, H.B. 1032 would let counselors, doctors, and other healthcare professionals encourage people to accept same-sex attraction or disagree with their biological sex, but healthcare professionals would not be able to help them overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or accept their biological sex.

H.B. 1032 would threaten the free speech and the free exercise of religion among licensed healthcare professionals. It fails to account for the fact that many medical professionals, such as the American College of Pediatricians, believe that it is deeply harmful to encourage a child to disagree with his or her biological sex. The bill does not contain any exceptions for healthcare professionals who have deeply-held religious convictions against performing pro-LGBT counseling.

Simply put: H.B. 1032 is a radical, pro-LGBT proposal that would hurt Arkansans. You Can Read The Bill Here.

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

READ MORE