Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Arkansas passed dozens of different laws restricting and prohibiting abortion — including laws protecting unborn children from being aborted because of their sex or because they may be at risk for Down Syndrome. Technically, those good laws are still on the books, and they could be enforced if a federal court ever blocked Arkansas’ laws that generally prohibit abortion.
S.B. 591 by Sen. Clint Penzo (R — Springdale) and Rep. Karilyn Brown (R — Sherwood) would prohibit abortions performed due to the unborn baby’s race if Arkansas’ pro-life laws are ever amended or struck down.
The Arkansas Senate voted overwhelmingly for this good law on Wednesday. S.B. 591 now goes to the Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration.
The Following Senators Voted For S.B. 591
J. Boyd
J. Bryant
Caldwell
A. Clark
Crowell
B. Davis
Dees
J. Dismang
J. Dotson
J. English
Flippo
Gilmore
K. Hammer
Hester
Hickey
Hill
Irvin
B. Johnson
M. Johnson
B. King
M. McKee
J. Payton
C. Penzo
J. Petty
Rice
Stone
G. Stubblefield
D. Sullivan
D. Wallace
The Following Senators Voted Against S.B. 591
S. Flowers
G. Leding
F. Love
R. Murdock
J. Scott
C. Tucker
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
On Wednesday the House Rules Committee backed a good bill to protect Arkansans from dangerous drugs like THC made from industrial hemp.
THC is the main psychoactive drug in marijuana.
In 2018, Congress passed the federal Agriculture Improvement Act legalizing industrial hemp — or cannabis — that is low in THC. The goal was to let farmers grow cannabis plants for use in textiles like rope or cloth, but manufacturers have found ways to extract and refine the little bit of THC in industrial hemp. Doing this on a commercial scale means they can produce a lot of THC to infuse into drinks, candies, e-cigarettes, and other products.
In response, many state and federal policymakers have pushed back against these dangerous drugs.
Massachusetts, South Dakota, California, and many other states have successfully prohibited food, drinks, and other products that contain THC made from hemp.
In 2023, Arkansas passed Act 629 by Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) to prohibit THC made from industrial hemp.
Family Council supported that good law, and the legislature voted to pass it.
However, members of the hemp industry filed a lawsuit against Act 629, and the law has been tied up in federal court ever since.
This year Sen. Dees and Rep. Gazaway filed S.B. 533 to address the issues raised in the lawsuit over Act 629.
S.B. 533 is a good bill that would help prohibit intoxicating hemp products that contain THC and other drugs in Arkansas if Act 629 is ruled unconstitutional.
The bill effectively stops THC and other drugs made from hemp from being put into food or drinks sold in the state.
It also ensures other hemp products — like CBD oil or cosmetics — do not contain dangerous drugs or other contaminants.
On Wednesday, the House Rules Committee passed S.B. 533 after a good deal of discussion. The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas House of Representatives for a final vote.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
On Tuesday afternoon the House Public Health Committee defeated a bad law that would possibly allow hundreds — or even thousands — of abortions on healthy unborn children every year.
Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother. This year Arkansas passed an excellent measure clarifying and closing loopholes in the state’s pro-life laws.
H.B. 1880 by Rep. Ashley Hudson (D — Little Rock) would expand abortion in Arkansas.
The bill would add sweeping health exceptions for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. It also would permit abortion in cases of rape or incest or when a baby may be at risk of certain fetal abnormalities.
In other states, courts have interpreted health exceptions like the ones in H.B. 1880 very broadly. Adding these kinds of vague exceptions to pro-life laws makes it much easier to justify abortion and can effectively allow abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy in some cases.
On Tuesday the House Public Health Committee met to discuss H.B. 1880, and many pro-lifers were present to testify against the bill. During discussion, Rep. Ryan Rose (R — Van Buren) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) highlighted flaws in the bill’s wording and ways it would undermine Arkansas’ good laws that protect women and unborn children from abortion.
After hearing testimony on the bill, the committee voted against this bad abortion measure.
Family Council deeply appreciates our friends at Arkansas Right to Life who worked very hard against this bill, and we want to thank the state representatives who spoke against the bill and voted against it in committee on Tuesday.
As we have written many times, since 2019, there has been a lot of discussion about putting exceptions for rape and incest in Arkansas’ pro-life laws.
Rape and incest are evil. A woman who is raped is a victim in every sense of the word, and only about 2%–5% of all abortions are performed because of rape or incest.
In light of that, it’s easy for some people to justify abortion in these situations.
But there are serious problems with allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest.
Below are a few points to consider.
The Unborn Baby 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.
Abortion Helps Conceal Crimes Like Rape, Incest, and Sex Trafficking
Sexual predators sometimes coerce their victims into having abortions to conceal rape or incest.
In 2016 abortionist Ulrich Klopfer admitted to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board that he once performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl from Illinois who had been raped by her uncle.
Dr. Klopfer did not report the crime to law enforcement. He let the girl go home to her parents who knew about the rape and had decided not to prosecute. As far as we can tell, that girl’s uncle was never brought to justice.
The prevalence of forced abortions is an especially disturbing trend in sex trafficking. . . . One victim noted that “in most of [my six abortions,] I was under serious pressure from my pimps to abort the babies.” Another survivor, whose abuse at the hands of her traffickers was particularly brutal, reported seventeen abortions and indicated that at least some of them were forced on her.
Abortion helps cover up evil crimes like these.
Rapists Have No Legal Claim to Their Victims or Their Victims’ Children
Under Arkansas law, a rapist has no legal claim to his victim or the children of his victim.
That means a woman or girl who becomes pregnant because of rape can keep the child or put the child up for adoption, but she does not have to consult the rapist or share custody with him.
Arkansas law is very clear on that point.
Additionally, state courts can take other appropriate action to protect victims of rape or incest and their children.
Abortion Does Not Heal the Harm That Rape and Incest Cause
Abortion doesn’t heal the wounds that rape or incest leave behind.
Abortion takes the life of an unborn baby, and it carries dangerous risks for the woman.
Abortion is not a quick fix. Its consequences are very serious.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
