Abortion – Page 69 – Family Council

House Committee Defeats Effort to Weaken State Abortion Laws

Mar 30, 2023Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Thursday the House Judiciary Committee defeated a bad bill that would have added exceptions to Arkansas’ abortion laws.

H.B. 1670 by Rep. Ashley Hudson (D – Little Rock) would weaken Arkansas’ pro-life laws by creating an exception for abortion in cases of incest.

As we have said many times, rape and incest are evil, and any woman who is a victim of rape or incest is a victim in every sense of the word.

However, legislation like H.B. 1670 fails to acknowledge that the unborn child is totally innocent.

An unborn boy or girl has no control over how he or she was conceived. These are living human beings. It is not right to kill an unborn baby because the baby’s father was a rapist or committed incest.

We are thankful to the House Judiciary Committee members who voted against this bad bill.

Senate Committee Passes Bill Keeping Pro-Abortion Groups Out of Public Schools

Mar 29, 2023Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

*Above: Planned Parenthood no longer performs abortions at its facility in Little Rock, but Planned Parenthood does provide abortion referrals.*

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a good bill that would help keep pro-abortion groups out of Arkansas’ public schools.

S.B. 466 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) says that a public school or open-enrollment public charter school shall not knowingly enter into any type of transaction with an individual or entity that offers or provides abortion referrals.

Arkansas law already prevents schools from contracting with organizations that perform abortions.

Now that Arkansas generally prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother, state law needs to clarify that public schools won’t contract with pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood that refer women to abortion facilities out of state.

S.B. 466 is a good bill that will help keep public schools from working with pro-abortion organizations in Arkansas.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for consideration.

Senate Public Health Committee Advances Good Bills

Mar 28, 2023Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Monday the Senate Public Health Committee advanced two good bills.

The first was S.B. 452 by Sen. Ben Gilmore (R – Crossett) and Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton).

The bill amends the legislative declarations in the Arkansas Family Planning Act of 1973. It deletes legislative findings in state law that claim, “Continuing population growth either causes or aggravates many social, economic, and environmental problems, both in this state and in the nation,” and that “[c]ontraceptive procedures, supplies, and information as to and procedures for voluntary sterilization are not sufficiently available as a practical matter to many persons in this state.”

The second was S.B. 463 — also by Sen. Ben Gilmore (R – Crossett) and Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton) — clarifying that the State Medical Board will revoke the license of a physician that violates Arkansas’ laws against abortion-inducing drugs.

Both bills now go to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.