Court Clears Way for Trump to Defund Planned Parenthood

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Above: Planned Parenthood’s closest abortion facility to Arkansas, located in Southeast Kansas.

On December 12, a federal appeals court handed the pro-life movement a major victory. The court ruled that the Trump administration can strip Planned Parenthood of its Medicaid funding.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s injunction that had blocked a key provision in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” preventing taxpayer dollars from going to abortionists through Medicaid. The provision effectively defunds Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business.

Planned Parenthood had argued the law violated their constitutional rights, but the court said Congress is free to decide how to spend taxpayer dollars.

Judge Gelpí explained that the law doesn’t punish Planned Parenthood for past actions. Instead, it simply gives them a choice: Stop doing abortions and keep getting taxpayer money, or keep aborting unborn children and lose the funding.

Planned Parenthood has claimed the funding cut could force them to close as many as 200 facilities.

In Arkansas, abortion is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and the state cut ties with abortionists like Planned Parenthood many years ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states are not required to fund abortionists, and the Arkansas Legislature and the governor have both blocked Planned Parenthood and its affiliates from receiving public tax dollars.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains still operates facilities in Little Rock and Rogers, but neither one performs abortions.

However, reports also show Planned Parenthood may be spending millions of dollars to help women cross state lines for abortion, and news outlets have highlighted how pro-abortion states are protecting abortionists who ship abortion drugs across the country. Those are serious concerns.

But the court ruling is still good news for Arkansas. It shows that Congress has the power to direct taxpayer funding away from abortionists, and it helps underscore that Arkansas lawmakers were right to defund Planned Parenthood.

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

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This Week: EFA Rules, China, Abortion Pills, and More

Current Events

Here’s a quick recap of the week’s top stories from Family Council and our friends:

From Family Council

Problems with Proposed EFA Rules: On Monday, Family Council and its homeschool division, the Education Alliance, submitted public comments asking the Arkansas Department of Education to rethink a set of proposed rules prohibiting Educational Freedom Account (EFA) money from being used for team sports under the LEARNS Act. Keep Reading.

President Trump Moves to Loosen Restrictions on Marijuana. On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to expedite the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The change would put marijuana in the same category as anabolic steroids or Tylenol with Codeine. Keep Reading.

A Population Control Bust in China: A recent article in Newsweek highlights the dramatic population decline facing China after decades of anti-family policies. Keep Reading.

Girls’ Sports Continues Still at Risk of Being Erased: Concerned Women for America reports a teenage boy has won a girls’ Irish dance competition for the third year in a row, taking the top spot from female competitors and earning a chance to compete as a girl at the Irish Dance World Championships this spring. Keep Reading.

State Officials Investigating Abortion Pill Ads: News outlets say a national pro-abortion group is placing ads for abortion pills at gas stations in South Dakota, prompting state officials to launch an investigation into whether the ads violate state laws. Keep Reading.

Pro-Transgender Medical Groups Sued for Misleading Families: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a major lawsuit against three prominent medical organizations, accusing them of deceiving families about the safety and effectiveness of sex-change procedures for children. Keep Reading.

Yet Another Study Says Marijuana is Harmful: A new study published in the journal Clinical Cardiology shows marijuana use — whether it’s smoking, vaping, eating, or dabbing — increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Keep Reading.

Netflix Promotes LGBT Content in Children’s Programming: A new study from Concerned Women for America shows that over 41% of children’s shows on Netflix contain LGBT content. Keep Reading.

Parents’ Fundamental Right to Direct Their Children’s Education Being Undermined: Recently, our friends from Alliance Defending Freedom testified before members of Congress about how public schools are undermining parental rights. Keep Reading.

From Our Friends

Are There No Suicide Pods? Are There No Gas Chambers? From Breakpoint.

Kathy Hochul Opens the Door to Euthanasia With Her Assisted Suicide Bill. From LifeNews.

Research Supports Why Exposing ‘Trans’ Lies is True Compassion. From Daily Citizen.

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Parents’ Fundamental Right to Direct Their Children’s Education Being Undermined

Video

Recently, our friends from Alliance Defending Freedom testified before members of Congress about how public schools are undermining parental rights.

Over the years, we have seen pro-LGBT activists use public schools to promote transgender ideology to kids in many different ways. Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom have spoken out about how schools are hiding important information about students from their parents.

On December 3, ADF Senior Counsel and Director of the Center for Public Policy, Matt Sharp, appeared before the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and Workforce. In his testimony, Mr. Sharp discussed how the critical relationship between parents and children is increasingly challenged in America’s public education system.

You can watch his testimony here.

All of this reminds us why Arkansas has worked so hard to protect students and uphold parental rights.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 to prevent male athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

That same year, lawmakers passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act generally prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

In 2023 Arkansas lawmakers passed Act 317 to protect privacy in public school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and similar facilities by requiring public schools to designate these facilities for “male” or “female” use.

Legislators also passed Act 274 of 2023 letting a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure sue the healthcare provider who performed the procedure if the child suffers any injury as a result.

Arkansas passed the LEARNS Act overhauling public education in Arkansas, prohibiting critical race theory in public schools, and protecting young elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material in the classroom.

This year legislators passed Act 955 by Sen. Blake Johnson (R — Corning) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) protecting physical privacy and safety of Arkansans in showers, locker rooms, changing rooms, restrooms, and sleeping quarters in government buildings, jails, and in shelters for victims of domestic violence.

Taken together, all of these good laws protect children at school and elsewhere around the state. Public school students should not be taught to question their sexual-orientation or their gender, and schools should not lie to parents about what their children are learning at school. We appreciate Alliance Defending Freedom standing up for parental rights, and we appreciate Arkansas’ policymakers protecting children.

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

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