Parents Know Best When It Comes To Their Kids’ Education

Religious Freedom,

The following is from our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom.

Oklahoma should be able to choose the best schools for its charter-school program, and the Constitution prevents the state from excluding schools from that program simply because they are religious.

Oklahoma law creates a charter-school program, and it invites private organizations to apply to operate charter schools in the state—except state law says religious groups cannot participate. But when St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School applied to operate a virtual charter school in Oklahoma, the Statewide Charter School Board faced a choice: deny the otherwise-qualified application as state law said or do what the First Amendment requires and approve the school. After then-Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor advised the board members that the ban on religious organizations participating in the charter-school program is likely unconstitutional, the Board approved the school in June 2023.

Current Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond disagreed with that decision, so he sued the Charter School Board. ADF represents the Board. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against the Board and ordered it to exclude St. Isidore, the Board appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 24, 2025, the high court agreed to hear the case. The case will be argued on April 30 and likely decided in June.

This case is about educational freedom, empowering parents, and equal treatment of religious people and groups. Parents deserve more choices for their children’s education. Different children flourish in different environments, and providing a wide variety of options allows parents to choose the best education for their children. People of faith deserve options that align with their faith. It is discriminatory to allow charter-school options for parents who believe in Montessori education, for example, while forbidding charter-school options for religious parents who want their children educated consistent with their faith.

Learn more about the Supreme Court case Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond: https://adflegal.org/drummond

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Governor Signs Religious Freedom Bill into Law

Religious Freedom,
Above: Sen. Stubblefield and Rep. Lundstrum present H.B. 1615 in committee. The bill passed at the Arkansas Legislature, and Gov. Sanders signed it into law last week.

Last week Gov. Sanders announced that she had signed a good religious freedom bill into law.

H.B. 1615 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) will help ensure that religious organizations and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

This good law is especially important for people who have religious convictions about biological sex and marriage.

Over the years, wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, florist shops, and others have been dragged into court simply because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions.

Nobody should be forced to choose between their religious convictions and their livelihood, and nobody should be punished for obeying their conscience. H.B. 1615 will help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

Family Council wants to thank Rep. Lundstrum and Sen. Stubblefield for sponsoring H.B. 1615. We appreciate the General Assembly passing this measure, and we are grateful to Gov. Sanders for signing it into law.

Arkansas has a longstanding tradition of affirming and protecting the free exercise of religion. H.B. 1615 is a good law that will help the state continue to do exactly that.

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

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Study Finds Pro-Life Laws Boost Births in Arkansas and Beyond

Abortion, , ,

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimates more than 300 children were born in Arkansas in 2023 as a direct result of the state’s pro-life laws.

Since 2022, abortion in Arkansas has been generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother. It is also against the law to deliver abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486 into the state. Government data and news reports indicate some women from Arkansas may cross state lines for abortion, but so far there has been very little data estimating exactly how many children are alive today as a result of pro-life laws.

The JAMA study published in February reviewed abortion laws and birth rates from 2023 in all 50 states — including Arkansas. Researchers found the number of births were higher than expected in states that generally prohibited abortion.

Overall, the study estimated that at least 22,180 children across America were born in 2023 as a direct result of pro-life laws — including an estimated 325 children in Arkansas.

National Review analyzed the JAMA study, writing,

The JAMA study is unique because it is the first study that analyzes the impact of recent pro-life laws on different demographic groups. The study found that pro-life laws had a statistically larger impact on the fertility rates of unmarried women, African Americans, Hispanics, and women on Medicaid. The study also considered the impact of individual pro-life laws. Some state pro-life laws, such as the those enacted in Texas, had a larger impact than others. However, every abortion ban or heartbeat act was correlated with an increase in the state fertility rate. In short, every pro-life law that was analyzed saved lives.

As National Review notes in its analysis of the study, JAMA likely underestimated the number of children born as a result of pro-life laws. JAMA reviewed birth data in each state from 2012 to 2022, and then compared the number of births that were projected in 2023 with the number of children who were actually born. JAMA referred to these as “excess births.” The number of unborn children saved as a result of pro-life laws may be much higher than JAMA estimates.

The JAMA study underscores that pro-life laws save lives. We have written repeatedly about how many children in Arkansas are alive today simply because of informed-consent laws the state legislature enacted. Abortion hurts women and it kills unborn children. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, states are free to restrict or prohibit abortion. Laws against abortion are saving the lives of unborn children. That’s something to celebrate.

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

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