Abortion in Arkansas Remains Near Historic Lows

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Little Rock, Ark. — On Wednesday the Arkansas Department of Health released its annual reports on the number of abortions performed in the state.

The report shows that 3,154 abortions occurred in Arkansas in 2020.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “Abortion in Arkansas is near historic lows. Abortion in Arkansas hasn’t been this low since the late 1970s, and Arkansas is the most pro-life state in America according to Americans United for Life. Arkansans are winning the fight against abortion.”

Cox noted that teen abortion remained at an all time low in 2020. “In the 1990s teenagers were among those who were most likely to have an abortion. Today they are some of the least likely to have one. The number of abortions performed in Arkansas has been cut in half since 1991. Overall, the state’s abortion rate has plummeted. That’s all really great news.”

Cox said the reports also show Arkansas’ informed-consent laws have helped women choose options besides abortion. “Arkansas has one of the best informed-consent laws in America. It requires abortionists to give women all the facts about abortion up front, including abortion’s risks, consequences, and alternatives. They also have to give women plenty of time to consider all options before making a final decision. We estimate from these reports that between 500 and 600 women chose not to have abortions last year after receiving this information.”

Cox praised the Arkansas Legislature for enacting good legislation that protects unborn children. “Arkansas’ lawmakers have passed some of the best pro-life laws in the country. Governor Hutchinson has signed every pro-life law that has come across his desk, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has defended them in court. This year the state passed several laws that will protect unborn children and give our courts an opportunity to overturn bad decisions like Roe v. Wade. These latest reports simply show that we are winning the fight against abortion in our state.”

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President Biden’s $6 Trillion Budget Would Fund Abortions With Taxpayer Dollars

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Recently President Biden rolled out a proposed budget with a hefty $6 trillion price tag.

However, the budget proposal does not include the traditional Hyde Amendment rider.

The Hyde Amendment is a bipartisan budget provision. It’s been on every federal budget since 1976.

It generally prevents Americans from being forced to subsidize abortions with their tax dollars, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life or physical health are in jeopardy.

Without the Hyde Amendment, federal funds could be used to pay for elective abortions. That’s why it’s so significant that President Biden’s budget doesn’t include its language.

The debate over the Hyde Amendment has escalated over the past few years.

As a U.S. Senator, President Biden supported the Hyde Amendment. However he reversed his position in 2019 amid the presidential election.

In 2020 liberals in Washington began pushing to propose a federal budget that would permit taxpayer-funded abortion.

Now the president’s proposed budget does not contain the traditional Hyde Amendment language — which would open the door to publicly funded abortion in America.

Public opinion polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose paying for abortions with taxpayer dollars. According to Gallup, most Americans believe abortion should be completely illegal or legal only in a few cases.

Arkansas’ U.S. Senators and Congressmen recently signed a letter opposing taxpayer-funded abortion.

Even the Obama Administration — which was not pro-life by any means — did not try to abolish the Hyde Amendment. In fact, President Obama signed an executive order in 2010 applying the Hyde Amendment to the Affordable Care Act to address concerns about public funding of abortion under Obamacare.

Pro-abortion groups have said many times, “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.”

But without the Hyde Amendment, even if you don’t like abortion and you don’t have an abortion, you could still be forced to pay for an abortion with your taxes.

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ACLJ Files Brief in Support of Arkansas’ Pro-Life Law

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Earlier this month the American Center for Law and Justice filed an amicus brief in support of Arkansas’ law that prohibits abortions performed solely because the baby may have Down Syndrome — Act 619 of 2019.

At the time that Act 619 passed, Family Council estimated that the law could save upwards of 100 unborn children in Arkansas every single year.

The law has been tangled up in court ever since, and the State of Arkansas currently is blocked from enforcing it.

In April Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the nation’s highest court to take up the case.

So far 22 state attorneys general as well as sitting congressmen and U.S. senators have filed briefs in support of the law. Now the American Center for Law and Justice has come out in defense of the law as well.

The ACLJ brief notes:

[T]here are countless instances in which parents were told a child would be born with severe or fatal disabilities, when in fact the child turned out to be either perfectly healthy or had manageable, or even only minor, conditions. This has specifically happened regarding a false diagnosis of Down syndrome or related maladies.

This could turn out to be a landmark abortion case, because it has the potential to reshape how federal judges treat pro-life laws like Act 619 of 2019.

It could give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to overturn past rulings like Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

That would be a huge victory for pro-lifers in Arkansas — and everywhere else in America.

Read the ACLJ’s brief here.

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