Richtext field removing inserted links
The answer here is to disable the mod_security2 rule on the admin folder as I was tripping the SQL Injection prevention rule (#300015) upon saving the Entry form.

This is a server setup that uses cPanel and Apache 2.2. 

Edit file:

/usr/local/apache/conf/modsec2/whitelist.conf


Add the following rule:

&lt;LocationMatch "/admin/"&gt;
  SecRuleRemoveById 300015
&lt;/LocationMatch&gt;