Bill Filed to Maintain Fairness in Women’s Sports in Arkansas

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Sen. Irvin announces S.B. 354 at the Arkansas Capitol.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 25, 2021

On Thursday, the Arkansas Republican Women’s Caucus launched their Dream BIG legislative package. Senator Missy Irvin (R – Mountain View) and Representative Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) filed SB354, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act as part of the legislative package they presented.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying, “Senator Irvin has filed a great bill. All over the country we’ve seen biological males who claim to be female compete unfairly in women’s sports. Allowing males to compete in girls’ sports reverses almost 50 years of advances for women. Destroying girls’ athletics hampers girls’ abilities to compete for athletic scholarships and hurts their professional opportunities as adults. SB354 prevents this from happening in Arkansas.”

Cox said SB354 is necessary to preserve fairness in women’s sports and letting boys compete in girls’ sports puts girls at a distinct disadvantage. “Boys who compete against girls in athletics have a physical advantage. Science and common sense tell us male athletes generally are bigger, faster, and stronger. Their hearts and lungs are larger. They have denser bones and stronger muscles.”

Cox said we are pleased that the Arkansas Republican Women’s Caucus is pushing back against federal pressure to let boys compete against girls. “President Biden has already issued an executive order indicating his administration believes biological males should be able to compete against females in sports. We expect the federal government to pressure schools to let boys compete in girls’ athletics in the coming months. When that happens, this bill gives Arkansas’ public schools a tool they can use to push back.”

Family Council fully supports SB354. “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act that Senator Irvin, Representative Barker, and the Arkansas Republican Women’s Caucus has filed is a great bill. We hope the Arkansas Legislature will pass it and Governor Hutchinson will sign it into law,” said Cox.

Family Council is a conservative education and research organization based in Little Rock.

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Legislation Filed to Let Municipalities in Arkansas Declare Themselves Pro-Life

Abortion, Legislation, , ,

On Tuesday Rep. Kendon Underwood (R – Cave Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch) filed H.B. 1544 letting municipalities in Arkansas declare themselves pro-life.

Under this bill, cities and towns would be able to pass a resolution designating themselves as a Pro-Life City.

H.B. 1544 outlines some of the findings and language that cities can put in their pro-life resolution.

The bill also clarifies that Pro-Life Cities can install signs or banners announcing that they are pro-life.

Currently, nothing in Arkansas law prevents a city from declaring itself a Pro-Life City, but H.B. 1544 writes a foundation for these pro-life resolutions into state law.

This is a really good bill that will help communities in Arkansas foster a culture of life.

One of Family Council’s goals for 2021 is to help Arkansans statewide designate their communities as Pro-Life Cities. H.B. 1544 will help make that happen.

Read the bill here.

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Proposal Would Address Marijuana Possession, Transportation, and Use

Legislation, Marijuana,

On Monday Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R – Springdale) and Sen. Cecile Bledsoe (R – Rogers) filed H.B. 1525 concerning the unlawful possession, transportation, and use of medical marijuana in Arkansas.

The bill prohibits a person from being under the influence of marijuana in public or at a marijuana dispensary or marijuana cultivation facility.

It clarifies that it is unlawful for a person to use marijuana by inhalation in a place where marijuana is prohibited by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016.

It also imposes penalties for possessing more marijuana than Arkansas’ medical marijuana amendment allows.

And it makes it a crime to transport medical marijuana into Arkansas from another state.

Right now, Arkansas law prohibits marijuana use in public, and it says that a person cannot be intoxicated by marijuana while at a marijuana dispensary or cultivation facility. State law also prohibits smoking of medical in public or if the user is under 21 years of age.

But Arkansas law does not contain penalties for violating some of these medical marijuana laws, and current law may not adequately address all the ways marijuana can be consumed by inhalation.

H.B. 1525’s broader language and penalties could help address these inadequacies in state law.

Time and again healthcare professionals have found a link between marijuana and serious health problems.

A study just published in JAMA Pediatrics found that heavy cannabis use among adolescents and young adults with mood disorders is “associated with an elevated risk of self-harm, overall mortality, and death by unintentional overdose and homicide.”

A 2019 study found that marijuana legalization has been linked to psychosis, suicide, and other substance abuse.

And a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s publication JAMA Psychiatry found exposure to marijuana during pregnancy was associated with psychotic behaviors, weaker cognitive abilities, and other problems in children.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

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