Group Forms to Oppose Abortion, Marijuana, Education Amendments

Abortion, Education, Marijuana, , , , ,

On Friday the group Stronger Arkansas filed ballot question committee paperwork announcing it would work to disqualify and/or defeat the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, the marijuana amendment, and the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024.

Arkansans for Limited Government is collecting petition signatures to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

The amendment would write abortion into the state constitution, and it would prevent the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — allowing thousands of elective abortions every year and paving the way for taxpayer-funded abortions in Arkansas.

Another group is circulating petitions to place a marijuana amendment on the ballot this November.

The amendment would change Arkansas’ medical marijuana law to enable recreational marijuana statewide. No longer would marijuana users need to suffer from a specific medical condition.

The amendment would drastically expand Arkansas’ laws to make it possible for people to grow and use marijuana at home. This would make it easier for people to use marijuana recreationally.

The amendment also would openly legalize marijuana in Arkansas if federal laws against marijuana are repealed.

The Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024 would change Arkansas’ constitution concerning education.

Among other things, the amendment would require private schools that receive public funding to be accredited like a public school. This could have significant ramifications for private schools that receive public funding under the state’s 2023 LEARNS Act.

A growing list of organizations in Arkansas oppose the abortion amendment.

Arkansas Right to Life and Family Council Action Committee both have launched campaigns to disqualify and defeat the abortion measure.

Choose Life Arkansas — which is made up of pro-life leaders from across the state — has also formed a campaign to defeat the amendment.

NWA Coalition for Life has filed a Statement of Organization last month announcing it is working against the abortion amendment. The group includes pro-life leaders from the Northwest Arkansas area.

On March 1 the Arkansas Committee For Ethics Policy filed paperwork with the State indicating it opposes the abortion amendment.

On March 6 the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock also filed a Statement of Organization announcing it opposes the amendment.

The groups circulating petitions for the abortion amendment, marijuana amendment, and education amendment have until July 5 to collect the nearly 91,000 petition signatures necessary to place their measures on the ballot.

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

READ MORE

England Joins Growing List of Jurisdictions That Protect Children From Puberty Blockers

Transgender, ,

The U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) is officially banning healthcare professionals from prescribing puberty blockers to children.

The NHS guidelines for puberty blockers now say:

Puberty blockers (gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues) are not available to children and young people for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness.

The guidelines also note that cross-sex hormones often given in conjunction with puberty blockers may cause irreversible changes, and that long-term cross-sex hormone use may cause temporary or permanent infertility.

In 2022 the NHS closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years.

A government investigation revealed healthcare professionals at the Tavistock clinic pressured families into subjecting their children to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

The SAFE Act is a good law that prevents doctors in Arkansas from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court for more than two years, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing the law. However, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office is appealing the case.

Sex-change surgeries and procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids. That is why many experts agree that subjecting children to sex-change procedures is experimental, at best.

Not long after Arkansas passed the SAFE Act, a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, and last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed swelling in the brain.

As we have noted repeatedly, public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans saying that it’s morally wrong to change genders.

All of this just goes to show that Arkansas’ lawmakers were right to pass the SAFE Act in 2021.

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

READ MORE