Senate Committee Passes Bill Keeping Pro-Abortion Groups Out of Public Schools

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Above: Planned Parenthood no longer performs abortions at its facility in Little Rock, but Planned Parenthood does provide abortion referrals.

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a good bill that would help keep pro-abortion groups out of Arkansas’ public schools.

S.B. 466 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) says that a public school or open-enrollment public charter school shall not knowingly enter into any type of transaction with an individual or entity that offers or provides abortion referrals.

Arkansas law already prevents schools from contracting with organizations that perform abortions.

Now that Arkansas generally prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother, state law needs to clarify that public schools won’t contract with pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood that refer women to abortion facilities out of state.

S.B. 466 is a good bill that will help keep public schools from working with pro-abortion organizations in Arkansas.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for consideration.

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Education Committee Passes Bill Addressing Implicit Bias Training in Public Schools

Education, ,

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a bill addressing implicit bias training in public education.

In recent years, some educators around the country have expressed concerns about employee training programs that presume educators are unconsciously biased or prejudiced.

H.B. 1559 by Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton) prohibits public schools in Arkansas from mandating implicit bias training for their employees.

It is a good bill that will help complement the LEARNS Act’s provisions that prohibit critical race theory in public schools.

H.B. 1559 passed with overwhelming support in the Arkansas House of Representatives on Monday, and the Senate Education Committee passed it on Wednesday.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for a vote.

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Senate Committee Passes Bill to Protect Teachers, Students Who Decline to Use Preferred Pronouns

Legislation,

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a good bill that helps protect students and teachers who decline to use a person’s preferred pronouns at school.

H.B. 1468 by Rep. Wayne Long (R – Bradford) and Sen. Mark Johnson (R – Little Rock) says that a student or teacher cannot not be penalized for declining to address a person by a pronoun that is inconsistent with the person’s biological sex.

As we have reported before, educators in other states have been fired and suspended for declining to use students’ chosen pronouns.

H.B. 1468 would help prevent that from happening in Arkansas.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for a vote.

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