Group Gathers Nearly 200,000 Signatures to Place Recreational Marijuana Measure on November Ballot

On Friday the group Responsible Growth Arkansas submitted nearly 200,000 petition signatures to place a recreational marijuana amendment on the state’s General Election ballot this November.

Responsible Growth Arkansas is running a multi-million dollar campaign to legalize marijuana in Arkansas.

The group’s effort appears to be bankrolled largely by the marijuana industry.

Researchers have found time and again that marijuana is dangerous.

Legalizing marijuana has been tied to traffic deaths.

Scientists have linked marijuana use with violence, psychosis, schizophrenia, memory impairment, depression, and suicide.

Candy laced with marijuana is harming children.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last year found frequent marijuana use was associated with heart attack.

A recent study out of California found infants were 35% more likely to die within a year of birth if their mother used marijuana heavily; the study also found that infants were more likely to be born preterm, have a low birth weight, and be small for their gestational age.

A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that legalized commercial marijuana sales saw self-harm rates rise by 46% among men ages 21 to 39.

The list goes on and on and on.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

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

What Does Arkansas’ Abortion Ban Actually Say?

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (left) and Family Council President Jerry Cox hold the official certification that Roe is reversed and Act 180 of 2019 is in effect.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge certified that Act 180 of 2019 prohibiting abortion except to save the life of the mother is in effect.

Family Council worked in support of Act 180 with our friends in the Arkansas Legislature and with other pro-life organizations.

Below is a brief overview of the law:

  • Act 180 is a “trigger law” that was designed to take effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
  • Act 180 prohibits abortion in Arkansas except to save the mother’s life.
  • It says anyone who performs an illegal abortion can be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
  • It does not prosecute a woman who has an illegal abortion.
  • It doesn’t criminalize miscarriage.
  • The law permits procedures to remove an unborn baby who has died as a result of a miscarriage.
  • It doesn’t apply to ectopic pregnancies.
  • Act 180 doesn’t prohibit an OB/GYN from inducing labor or performing an emergency C-section.
  • It contains clear exceptions for contraception—including the “morning after” pill or Plan B.
  • Act 180 doesn’t prevent a pregnant woman from receiving medical treatments—such as chemotherapy—that carry risk for the unborn child.

Act 180 of 2019 had 47 legislative sponsors and co-sponsors.

Three-quarters of the Arkansas Legislature voted in favor of the measure, and Governor Hutchinson signed it on February 19, 2019.

Public opinion polling shows 79% of likely voters in Arkansas believe abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

Act 180 reflects that. It generally prohibits abortion, but it makes exceptions for serious medical complications—like an ectopic pregnancy—and for circumstances when the mother’s life is in jeopardy.

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

Abortion Facility Owner Found “Not Guilty” of Assault

On Wednesday abortion facility owner Natalie Tvedten was found “not guilty” of First Degree Assault at a trial in Little Rock.

Warrant and arrest reports indicated that Tvedten faced two counts of Assault in the First Degree for allegedly trying to strike pro-lifers with her vehicle while they prayed on the public easement outside Little Rock Family Planning Services on July 13, 2021.

Little Rock Family Planning Services is Arkansas’ only licensed surgical abortion facility. The facility recently stopped performing abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade on June 24.

Family Council has collected Little Rock Police reports documenting multiple close calls that pro-lifers have had with vehicles outside the surgical abortion facility over the years.

Below is video footage of the the July 13 incident that Family Council obtained last year via Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act.

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