I noted the other day that Sen. Jason Rapert criticized Governor Hutchinson‘s decision to delay the special session on tax cuts. Rapert wants to use the session to pass a law similar to Texas, which has the most restrictive law in effect in the nation. He had more to say the other day on the Dave Elswick Show, arguing that Texas had found the “secret sauce” by allowing individuals to sue people who help women get abortions rather than having the state enforce the six-week ban.
Hutchinson prefers to wait for “guidance” from the courts before taking on any additional abortion legislation (and at least at this point, probably prefers not to take up the issue at all in the special session).
Hutchinson sets the agenda for the special session – currently slated for tax cuts. However, a two-thirds vote of the legislature could add other items beyond what the governor selects.
On the Dave Elswick Show, Rapert expressed confidence that if a special session is called, he can get abortion on the agenda and pass a bill similar to Texas:
He said that given the strong anti-abortion sentiment in Arkansas, it should be an easy lift to pass a Texas-style bill.
Rapert boasted that he has been fighting for restrictive abortion laws in the state for more than a decade, since he was elected in the 2010 wave and pushed a bill to ban abortion at six weeks in the 2011 session (the Democrats, then still in the majority, shut it down). He did his usual grousing about the courts interfering with anti-abortion laws. The state’s current abortion ban has been enjoined by a federal judge.
“I’m going to continue fighting for the values and the interests of the Arkansas people, no matter what the crazies do in Washington, D.C.,” Rapert said.
He also complained about President Biden appointing a transgender woman, Dr. Rachel Levine, as a four-star officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the first openly transgender person to achieve that rank. Rapert insisted that she is a man.
Rapert said that Democrats in Washington are “the most radical people we have ever seen.”
“The last line of defense now is in the states,” Rapert said. “And we have to be strong, because they’re trying to change the America that you and I grew up in.”