A lot is happening at the Legislature this week and next. We have a lot of bills we’re tracking, and a lot of legislation we want to see passed in the next few days. Below is a snapshot of what we expect this week.
Today
HJR1005, by Rep. Clemmer, will go before committee. The proposed constitutional amendment would require the Arkansas Lottery to allocate at least 35 percent of its gross revenue for scholarships. Right now the Lottery only allocates about 21.5%.
Tuesday
HB1983 will go before the House Public Health Committee. The bill modernizes and strengthens Arkansas’ current rights of conscience laws for doctors and health care providers who do not want to perform abortions or provide contraceptive services. This bill expands that provision to include other medical procedures that may violate a doctor’s, hospital’s, or insurer’s conscience, such as abortion, artificial insemination, euthanasia, and similar procedures.
HB1855 will go before the House Public Health Committee. HB1855 closes a loophole in the law regarding abortion clinic inspection by defining an abortion clinic as a clinic that performs 10 or more abortions a month. Under current law, a clinic could perform hundreds of abortions, but never be inspected. That was the case for an “obstetrics and gynecology” clinic that operated in Northwest Arkansas for many years.
Thursday
HB1887 will go before the House Public Health Committee. HB1887, also known as a “fetal pain bill”, outlaws abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy, except to save the life of the mother or prevent irreparable physical harm. This bill is similar to a law recently passed in Nebraska.
HB2159 will go before the House Public Health Committee. HB2159 allows a pregnant woman to use force to defend her unborn child from a criminal assault. Currently, Arkansas law does not specify that a woman can defend her unborn child the same way she could any other child. In 1999, a Michigan women was found guilty of manslaughter after she used lethal force against a man who punched her in the stomach, causing her to lose her quadruplets she was carrying. The woman’s sentence was overturned on appeal, two years later, and the courts ruled that Michigan women may use force to defend their unborn children. HB2159 ensures no Arkansas woman will ever face a similar threat of imprisonment simply for protecting her unborn child from a criminal.
SB753 will go before the Senate State Agencies Committee. This bill, also known as the Religious Freed Restoration Act, affirms the free exercise of religion under the United States and Arkansas Constitutions. It restores some religious liberty laws that have changed over the last 20 years, including the requirement that the government demonstrate “a compelling governmental interest” furthered when it encroaches on a person’s religious liberties.
SB867 will go before the Senate State Agencies Committee. SB867 bans lottery vending machines like the ones recently rolled out by the Arkansas Lottery Commission. If passed, this bill would require the purchase of lottery tickets to involve a store clerk, not just a machine, meaning it will be harder for minors to buy lottery tickets with a fake, stolen, or borrowed ID.
Next Week
Next week, we expect to the Legislature to hear bills that would regulate abortion clinics as ambulatory surgery centers, require abortion doctors to abide by FDA protocols in administering drugs like RU-486, and further affect how abortion clinics are inspected.
Needless to say, we have a lot on our plate right now. If you would like to keep track of everything we’re doing at the Capitol, be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
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