These Laws Helped Make Arkansas Number-One in Religious Liberty

This summer, Arkansas was named number-one in the nation when it comes to protecting religious liberty.

The legal experts at First Liberty analyzed religious freedom laws in all 50 states, and they concluded Arkansas’ laws are the very best. But reaching the top spot did not happen overnight. It took a lot of work from a lot of different people over several years.

Something that separates Arkansas from many other states is the way state law protects healthcare workers’ rights of conscience.

In 2021, Arkansas passed Act 462 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R – Benton) and Rep. Brandt Smith (R – Jonesboro) protecting rights of conscience for doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and other healthcare workers in Arkansas.

Before 2021, healthcare workers had very few conscience protections under Arkansas law. Act 462 helped broaden and strengthen those protections.

In 2025, lawmakers passed Act 970 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Lee Johnson (R — Greenwood) strengthening the healthcare workers’ rights of conscience law Arkansas passed in 2021.

Among other things, Act 970 added whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, and it helped protect all medical professionals from having their rights of conscience violated.

You can watch video highlights of Act 970’s passage below.

Last year Arkansas also enacted Act 677 of 2025 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch). The law ensures that religious organizations and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

Time and again, wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, florist shops, and others have been targeted by public officials and dragged into court simply because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions.

Act 677 helps prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

You can watch video of Rep. Lundstrum presenting Act 677 in the Arkansas House of Representatives below.

A lot of people deserve credit for making Arkansas into a leader on religious liberty, and Family Council has been happy to support those good efforts.

Religious liberty is not just the right to believe in something. It’s the right to live according to your faith. Arkansas’ number-one ranking shows the state has some of the best laws in the nation when it comes to protecting religious liberty.

We look forward to working with lawmakers to help Arkansas keep that number-one ranking in the 2027 legislative session.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.