Columbia County Passes Pro-Life Resolution

Abortion, , , , ,

On August 14 the Columbia County Quorum Court passed a resolution declaring itself a Pro-Life County.

In 2021 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 392 affirming that cities and counties can designate themselves as Pro-Life.

This year lawmakers passed Act 699 by Sen. Joshua Bryant (R – Rogers) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R – Cave Springs) expanding the law and letting other political subdivisions of the state pass Pro-Life resolutions as well. 

To date, nearly half of all Arkansans live in a Pro-Life City or Pro-Life County.

Columbia County’s Pro-Life Resolution says,

WHEREAS, Ark. Code Ann. §14-1-108 (Act 699 of 2023, enacted April 11, 2023, effective August 1, 2023) provides, in part, that a county by resolution may state the policy of the county to be Pro-Life; and

WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including the right to life; and

WHEREAS, the Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 68, states that the policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth; and

WHEREAS, it is the duty of state and local government to protect the unalienable right to life of every person within their respective jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a preference for normal childbirth rather than abortion.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE QUORUM COURT OF THE COUNTY OF COLUMBIA, STATE OF ARKANSAS:

SECTION 1. That the policy of Columbia County is to promote and protect the dignity and humanity of all persons at all stages of life from conception until natural death.

SECTION 2. That Columbia County is to be known as a “Pro-Life County”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade means state and local governments are now completely free to affirm that they support life.

More than ever, citizens and their elected officials need to establish exactly where they stand on the issue of abortion.

It’s good to see citizens in Columbia County taking a firm stand for the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

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State of Arkansas’ Lawsuit Against TikTok Continues in Court

Social Media,

The State of Arkansas’ lawsuit against social media giant TikTok is moving forward in Union County Circuit Court.

In March Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed a lawsuit against Chinese-based company ByteDance — the corporation that owns TikTok — alleging the social media platform violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Among other things, the lawsuit argues that TikTok failed to fully disclose that TikTok is subject to Chinese law — including “laws that mandate secret cooperation with intelligence activities of the People’s Republic of China.”

The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok “routinely exposes Arkansas consumers’ data, without their knowledge, to access and exploitation by the Chinese Government and Communist Party” and that “TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has admitted to using data gathered through TikTok to surveil Americans.”

With a billion users worldwide and 135 million in the U.S., TikTok is considered by some to be the most popular social media platform in the world.

The A.G.’s complaint against TikTok concludes by asking the court to stop TikTok’s actions and award the state up to $10,000 per violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act in accordance with state law.

You can read the entire complaint here.

This lawsuit between Arkansas and TikTok is separate from the larger lawsuit over Arkansas’ Social Media Safety Act.

Act 689, the Social Media Safety Act of 2023 by Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) and Rep. Jon Eubanks (R – Paris), is a good law that requires major social media companies to use age verification to ensure minors do not access social media platforms without parental consent. A social media company that violated the law could be held liable.

On June 29 the trade association NetChoice filed a lawsuit in federal court in Arkansas on behalf of its members — which include tech giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, Pinterest, and TikTok.

The lawsuit alleges that Arkansas’ Social Media Safety Act is unconstitutional and should be struck down. The ACLU has filed a brief opposing the Social Media Safety Act as part of that lawsuit as well.

Despite employing tens of thousands of content moderators, TikTok’s algorithm repeatedly has been shown to inundate teenagers with videos about eating disorders, body image, self-harm, and suicide. It’s good to see the State of Arkansas taking steps to stop TikTok from preying on children and prevent it from giving sensitive user data to the Chinese Communist Party.

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

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