Since 1989, Family Council has worked to promote, protect, and strengthen traditional family values in Arkansas. We’ve supported good legislation, opposed bad laws, promoted religious freedom, defended the sanctity of innocent human life, stood up for traditional marriage, blunted the radical LGBT agenda, and much more. Family Council’s team has grown this year — and so has our work. Here’s a brief look at a few of Family Council’s “Greatest Hits” from 2024.
Keeping Abortion Out of Arkansas. Pro-abortion forces worked relentlessly to write abortion into the Arkansas Constitution this year, but pro-lifers fought back. The pro-life “Decline to Sign” campaign likely cost the Arkansas Abortion Amendment 40,000 petition signatures and tens of thousands of dollars. It also likely kept abortion off the ballot in Arkansas, because the state supreme court invalidated petition signatures collected by paid canvassers but not the petition signatures that volunteers collected. If the pro-abortion volunteers had collected more signatures this past summer, their amendment might have made the November ballot. Fortunately, our team, Arkansas Right to Life, and other pro-life groups were able to spread the word about this bad amendment. Pro-lifers worked to defeat the abortion petition drive in Arkansas, and we were able to keep abortion out of the state.
Supporting Homeschoolers in Arkansas. Homeschooling has surged to record levels in our state. Today, more than 32,000 students homeschool in Arkansas. Our homeschool office, the Education Alliance, worked daily this year to help these students and their families with everything from getting started homeschooling to applying for college — and everything in between. We also helped homeschoolers understand how they can receive funding from the state’s new LEARNS Act this year. We are glad we get to serve homeschool families in our state.
Fighting Marijuana’s Expansion in Arkansas. Marijuana industry insiders spent nearly $2 million working to place a marijuana amendment on the ballot. Our team was able to build a powerful statewide grassroots network of county coordinators to inform people about this fatally flawed amendment. We printed and distributed about half a million church bulletin inserts. Had the Arkansas Supreme Court not disqualified this amendment, we were ready with our statewide campaign, and I believe our side would have prevailed as we did when Arkansas voters rejected legalizing marijuana just two years ago. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the marijuana amendment was legally flawed and that votes for it should not be counted. Our efforts against marijuana have positioned us to successfully fight to keep marijuana out of Arkansas.
Securing $2 Million in Funding for Pregnancy Help Organizations. One of the best things Family Council has ever done is help pregnancy resource centers secure publicly-funded grants. In 2022 we worked with former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and with our friends in the Arkansas Legislature to pass a budget measure providing a million dollars for pro-life pregnancy help organizations in Arkansas. In 2023 and 2024 we worked with Governor Sanders and with lawmakers to secure additional appropriations for these organizations. But this year we were able to expand the program and provide $2 million in grant funding. This grant money will provide real support to women in Arkansas with unplanned pregnancies, making it less likely they will travel to other states for abortion. That is something to celebrate.
Uncovering Planned Parenthood’s New Abortion Facility Near the Arkansas Border. In May Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider — announced plans to build a new abortion facility in southeast Kansas, within driving distance of Northwest Arkansas. Family Council worked over the summer to locate the new abortion center. In August our team found public records showing Planned Parenthood had formed a limited liability company that quietly purchased and renovated a doctor’s office in Pittsburg, Kansas. We alerted our friends at national pro-life organizations and our pro-life friends in Kansas. Breaking this news before Planned Parenthood was open for business helped pro-lifers begin mobilizing in Pittsburg before abortions were performed. By the time Planned Parenthood opened the facility, pro-life sidewalk counselors and prayer warriors were there as well. In August, Family Council was able to participate in a joint press conference outside the abortion facility, where we shared the truth about abortion and called on people to oppose Planned Parenthood’s agenda. This was a significant accomplishment.
Opposing Abortion and Other Bad Policies in Federal Court. Besides working to keep abortion out of Arkansas, Family Council also joined multiple amicus briefs in federal court this year. These amicus briefs helped defend good, pro-life laws in states like West Virginia and Idaho, and they helped oppose bad, pro-abortion policies the Biden Administration has promoted at the federal level. We are glad to be part of this important work.
Distributing Tens of Thousands of Voter’s Guides During 2024 Election Cycle. One of our goals is to educate voters so they can vote wisely when they head to the polls. The Arkansas Voter’s Guide is one way Family Council does that. Since 1990, we have surveyed candidates running for office in Arkansas, and we have published their responses. Our guide helps voters understand where candidates stand on issues like abortion, homeschooling, marijuana legalization, immigration policy, and so on. The guide also contains summaries of the ballot measures. This year we distributed more than 75,000 printed copies of the Arkansas Voter’s Guide, and our digital guide at ArkansasVotersGuide.com reached another 11,000 people. Many churches, homeschool groups, and other organizations share our voter’s guides with their members. Altogether, our team estimates that we distributed enough voter’s guides in print, online, and via email and text message to reach more than 125,000 potential voters. All of that had a tremendous impact in Arkansas.
Forming the Church Ambassador Network. One of our goals for 2024 was to form a network of church leaders who would minister to elected leaders and partner with them to address the problems many of our communities face. This year we hired Jim Lagrone, D.Min., and Cade Daniel to carry out this initiative. Since then both Jim and Cade have traveled the state, meeting with ministers and building this network. We were able to form the Church Ambassador Network of Arkansas this year, and we have big plans for it in the coming year.
Mobilizing the Arkansas Justice Institute. This year we mobilized the Arkansas Justice Institute to provide a clear, Christian perspective on legal issues in Arkansas and network with likeminded attorneys across the state. We hired Stephanie Nichols to lead and serve as chief legal counsel for the Justice Institute. Stephanie has helped draft legislation, researched legal issues, and offered sound wisdom to our organization. We believe the work we accomplished this year will help bear good fruit at the Arkansas Legislature in 2025.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
