Abortion Amendment Would Nullify Informed-Consent Laws, Write Abortion into Arkansas Constitution

Abortion,

This article is part of an ongoing series tracking the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 and examining its effects on state law.

On Tuesday the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office certified a popular name and ballot title for the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 — meaning the measure’s sponsors can begin collecting petition signatures to place the amendment on the ballot this November.

The amendment prevents the state from restricting abortion during the first 18 weeks after fertilization — approximately 20 weeks gestation.

It also contains sweeping health exceptions for abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and it nullifies all state abortion laws that conflict with the amendment.

In 2015, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1086, the Woman’s Right to Know Act, requiring abortionists to explain the abortion procedure — including its risks, its consequences, and its alternatives — before performing an abortion.

The Woman’s Right to Know Act passed with strong, bipartisan support in the Arkansas Legislature.

Data from the Arkansas Department of Health indicates that from August 1, 2015, to June 24, 2022, over 3,500 women chose not to have abortions after receiving the information outlined in this one law.

The Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 would write unrestricted abortion into the Arkansas Constitution, and it would nullify laws like the 2015 Woman’s Right to Know Act.

Under this amendment, lawmakers and voters would lose the ability to enact abortion restrictions — including restrictions that people on both sides of the aisle have supported in the past.

You can download a copy of the amendment here.

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Arkansas Lottery Still Budgets Pennies on the Dollar for Education

Arkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery recently released financial reports showing that it still budgets pennies on the dollar for education.

The state-run lottery has grossed nearly $309.7 million this fiscal year, but only about 18% of that money — $57.9 million — has gone to college scholarships. Meanwhile, the Lottery has spent more than $200 million on prizes for lottery players.

Over the years the Arkansas Lottery has shown a consistent pattern of over-spending on prizes and other expenses while under-spending on education.

The Lottery also has a habit of relying heavily on scratch-off tickets — including expensive tickets that controversially entice people to spend money on long odds for large prizes.

Taken together, all of this makes Arkansas’ state-run lottery an especially predatory form of gambling.

Family Council has supported legislation in the past that would restructure the Arkansas Lottery’s budget to increase spending on education.

Arkansas could provide millions of dollars more in scholarship funding if it simply would reduce the Lottery’s prize budget and increase its scholarship budget to align with other state lotteries.

Unfortunately, that does not seem to be a priority at the Arkansas Lottery.

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

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