With the passage of six new pro-life laws, Arkansas may now be the most pro-life state in the nation! Our pro-life ranking of fourth, just behind Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Louisiana may have gotten even better with the passage of a new law banning most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. In addition, we were pleased to work with Arkansas Right to Life and our friends in the legislature to stop tax-funded abortions in Arkansas under Obamacare. Thanks to new laws just passed, abortion clinic employees are now mandatory reporters of child abuse; prosecutors can charge criminals with the death of an unborn child at any stage of development; and a pregnant woman can legally defend her unborn child against an assailant. If Arkansas’ new 12 week abortion law gets tied up in court, another good law is set to take effect that bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.
From January 14 through April 22, Josh Mesker, Christa Adams, Ken Yang, Sarah Bean, and I were at the Capitol daily enjoying Family Council’s best legislative session ever. Altogether, 2,530 bills were filed and 1,520 were signed into law. While the merit of that many laws is debatable, here are just a few laws that most conservatives are celebrating.
The legislature reaffirmed its commitment to marriage as the union of a man and a woman by passing resolutions in support of Arkansas Marriage Amendment 83 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. They toughened Arkansas’ human trafficking laws and offered new protection for victims by making human trafficking a Class Y felony and allowing victims to collect restitution. High-profile gun legislation took center-stage when the legislature passed laws allowing concealed carry holders to possess guns in church and on college campuses. They addressed voter fraud with legislation requiring photo identification in order to vote. Altogether, they approved tax cuts totaling $120 million, some of which take effect in 2015. These include a reduction in the taxes on groceries and capital gains. Public school choice legislation passed, including a law allowing greater flexibility for parents to transfer their child from one district to another. A moment of silence is now required at the beginning of each school day, and the Bible can now be taught as an elective academic class.
In addition to the passage of several good laws, we were able to help pastors bring a little bit of “salt and light” into the Capitol Building. Our new Arkansas Pastors Network held regular Prayer Assemblies in the Capitol Rotunda. These gatherings opened doors for pastors to minister to lawmakers. One pastor has even decided to run for an open seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
We couldn’t have experienced such success without your support and the hard work of so may legislators. Shaping public policy through the passage of good laws is important, but seeing to it that government does no harm is just as vital. Twenty years ago we spent most of our time preventing harm; this year we spent most of our time trying to pass good laws.
In tomorrow’s post, we’ll release our new e-book that goes into detail on what happened with our issues during the legislative session.
Ben Colter