Proposed Fayetteville Ordinance Could Have “Chilling Effect” on Business

1 CommentCurrent Events, Homosexuality, Transgender, , , ,

I have been told by friends in Northwest Arkansas that the Fayetteville City Council is receiving 300 emails a day over its Proposed Chapter 119 ordinance. That’s great news!

This is an issue all Arkansans need to weigh in on, and it’s important that members of the council hear from as many people as possible.

The ordinance, as we have said before, threatens to infringe on the rights of churches as well as religious business people in Fayetteville.

You can read a full analysis of how the proposed ordinance affects religious liberty here.

It is also important to note that the ordinance has the potential to impact secular business owners. The ordinance makes it possible for businesses to face criminal prosecution if suspected of discrimination. Even if the allegations turn out to be totally false, a business might still be forced to spend thousands of dollars defending itself in court. For many small businesses, legal fees like those can be a death sentence. (more…)

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Abortion Drops Among Women Under 30, Remains Same Among 30+

Abortion, , ,

Recently we wrote out a few points analyzing Arkansas’ 2013 abortion statistics. Today we have compiled additional statistics on abortion in Arkansas for the past 13 years.

  • The largest number of abortions performed each year were on women ages 20 – 29.
  • Abortions on women 29 years of age and younger have generally declined since the year 2000.
  • Women ages 30-34 and women ages 40 and older had more abortions in the year 2013 than they did in the year 2000, although the numbers rose and fell some during the intervening years.
  • Abortion among women ages 35-39 has fluctuated without showing the same consistent, significant decline we see in younger age groups.
  • The number of abortions performed on women ages 40 and older was higher from 2001 – 2013 than in the year 2000.

It is interesting that while abortion has dropped among women under 30, the number of abortions performed on women 30 or older has remained roughly the same or risen slightly since 2000. We hope to have more information on these trends in the future.

Below are charts and graphs showing abortion trends among each age group of women in Arkansas from 2000 to 2013:

abortion-all-time-chart

(more…)

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No Exemption for Churches From Proposed Fayetteville Ordinance

2 CommentsReligious Freedom, , ,

We have written about Fayetteville’s proposed nondiscrimination ordinance and its unintended consequences–particularly where churches are concerned.

In particular, churches could face criminal prosecution if they:

  • Refuse to hire a gay or transgender person to fill a “secular” staff position;
  • Decline to let a same-sex couple use their property for a same-sex ceremony or reception.

A few of you have asked about the amendment adopted at last week’s meeting supposedly exempting churches from the ordinance. Here is how the amendment reads:

“Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to require any religious or denominational institution or association to open its sanctuary or chapel to any individual or group for any ceremony including, but not limited to, weddings, funerals, confirmations, or baptisms.”

Here is the problem: The amendment only exempts the church sanctuary or chapel, and only for “ceremonies.”

A church could still be forced to open its sanctuary for non-ceremonial meetings–if the church lets other groups use its sanctuary for meetings.

The church could still be forced to open other parts of its property–such as the fellowship hall, classrooms, outdoor lawns or gardens, additional auditoriums, and so on–for ceremonies or receptions.

To put it another way, the ordinance does not exempt churches; it exempts one room from a church’s entire property: The sanctuary. That’s it. Every other piece of church property is fair game.

If the Fayetteville City Council intended to exempt churches, they could have done so. As it is, they only exempted the church sanctuary or chapel. That sends a very clear message: The ordinance is fully intended to affect churches.

Read the full language of the ordinance here.

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