Back in 2021, I received a call from someone in eastern Arkansas who felt called to do something impactful in her community.
Ronni Schwantz, someone who had been pro-life her entire life, was on the other end of the phone asking questions on how to pass a pro-life resolution in Lee County, Arkansas. She was ready to put her pro-life stance into action. The time was right because the legislature had just passed a law affirming the right of municipalities to adopt resolutions declaring themselves to be pro-life. In response to that law, Family Council put together a comprehensive toolkit to help guide individuals and communities in understanding how to pass pro-life resolutions. Ronni took the toolkit and initiated a push to affirm Lee County and all its cities and towns as pro-life.
What started as an introductory conversation over the phone turned into years’ worth of effort to affirm Lee County and many other counties and cities as pro-life. Ronni partnered with local pastors, mayors, and elected officials. In 2021, Marianna became the second pro-life city in Arkansas, the first to pass a resolution after the 2021 law passed. Lee County soon followed, and the quorum court passed a pro-life resolution on October 26, 2021.
In the meantime, Ronni not only championed the passage of pro-life resolutions, but she also worked to bring a Safe Haven Baby box to St. Francis County and successfully ran for office to become a Justice of the Peace. Once she started, no setback was going to stop her.
Five years later, Ronni called me once again. On August 11, 2026, the final city in Lee County, Haynes, passed a pro-life resolution. This made Lee County the first county in Arkansas – and I would dare say the nation – to be 100% pro-life. This milestone was a testament to the goodness of God and the faithful laboring of people like Ronni Schwantz.
Pro-life resolutions are an incredible way for local pro-lifers to promote and espouse a culture of life. The annual ranking by Americans United for Life indicates Arkansas’ pro-life stance along with the twenty-five counties and seventeen cities and towns who have passed pro-life resolutions since 2021. Arkansas has seen many attacks on the sanctity of life, but because of the efforts of countless pro-life Arkansans like Ronni, there is great hope for a future that honors the sanctity of every life.
Erin Hogan has worked with Family Council since January of 2019, where she serves as Director of Government Relations.
