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VietnameseGriffin: ‘This case highlights widespread efforts by organizations and individuals in pro-abortion states to undermine the duly enacted laws of pro-life states’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after he and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed an amicus brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit supporting South Dakota’s pro-life position in Mayday Health v. Rhoden:
“Following the landmark Dobbs decision in 2022, South Dakota enacted laws restricting abortion, including a prohibition on advertising and distributing abortion pills within the state for unlawful abortions. Earlier this year, Plaintiffs challenged that law on First Amendment grounds, and a federal district court granted a preliminary injunction blocking its enforcement against Plaintiffs while the case proceeds.
“South Dakota has appealed the decision to the Eighth Circuit, and Attorney General Murrill and I, along with the attorneys general of 16 other states, have filed an amicus brief in support of South Dakota’s law.
“This case highlights widespread efforts by organizations and individuals in pro-abortion states to undermine the duly enacted laws of pro-life states. These intentional efforts to subvert states’ abortion laws are not only a threat to our constitutional structure, but also have tragic consequences for unborn babies and for women and girls who face increased risks from abortion drugs taken without medical safeguards. The district court was wrong to grant a preliminary injunction, hampering South Dakota’s ability to enforce its law to protect unborn babies’ lives and girls’ and women’s health. Our brief asks the Eighth Circuit to reverse and vacate the district court’s decision.
“Whether it is by pursuing our own litigation or supporting other states in theirs, I am proud to defend laws protecting unborn babies and the right of states to regulate within their borders.”
Joining Attorneys General Griffin and Murrill on the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
To read a copy of the amicus brief, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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