Last week the Arkansas Racing Commission approved a rule change that would allow online sports betting.
The proposed rule change now goes to the Arkansas Legislature.
Watch this video to learn more.
On Thursday the Arkansas Racing Commission voted to approve online sports betting.
Under the rules that the commission approved, gamblers would be able to bet on sporting events online via the casinos in the state.
The way the rules are written, wagers could be placed online via a computer, smart phone, or other mobile device from anywhere in Arkansas.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the new rules now go to the state legislature’s Legislative Council Committee for final review on January 28.
Lawmakers on the committee will vote to approve or deny the new rules at that time.
As we have said before, it’s impossible to monitor online gambling to be sure all state and federal laws are being followed.
No matter how many safeguards and security features are in place, there’s no way to guarantee that children won’t gamble via these smart phone apps.
When voters passed Amendment 100 in 2018, they were authorizing casino gambling at certain locations in Arkansas — not from anywhere in the state over the Internet.
This rule change would permit mobile sports betting anywhere in Arkansas. That isn’t what voters had in mind when they approved the casino amendment three years ago.
People who gamble online face a serious risk of developing a gambling addiction, and some research indicates that people who engage in sports betting are twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems.
Arkansas already has enough problems from gambling. These new rules will only make those problems worse.
Bottom line: Online sports betting is a bad bet for Arkansas.
Attorneys for Conway Regional Medical Center have asked a judge to dismiss most of the allegations raised in a religious discrimination lawsuit brought against the hospital in October.
Research and development for the COVID-19 vaccines used cells that originated from aborted babies. As a result, some pro-lifers have objections to the COVID-19 vaccines, because of the vaccines’ connection to abortion.
In September Conway Regional made headlines after the hospital announced that employees who wanted a religious exemption because of the COVID-19 vaccine’s connection to abortion would also have to sign a form attesting that the employees would not use other medicines — such as Tylenol and Tums — that have been tested on aborted fetal tissue.
In October six individuals who are past or present employees of Conway Regional filed a lawsuit against the hospital.
According to the lawsuit, all six of the plaintiffs are Christians who have religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine.
In an amended complaint filed on December 9, attorneys for the six plaintiffs provided the court with emails from Conway Regional’s CEO regarding the vaccine mandate.
The amended complaint alleges that one of the emails from Conway Regional’s CEO “equated employees who request religious exemptions from [the medical center’s] mandatory COVID vaccine policy with draft dodgers.”
Attorneys for the hospital responded to the amended complaint on Wednesday, generally denying the allegations and asking the court to dismiss all but two of the plaintiffs’ claims against Conway Regional.
Time will tell whether or not the court decides to dismiss any part of the religious discrimination lawsuit against Conway Regional Medical Center.
In September the Arkansas Legislature passed two identical laws addressing COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The laws require employers to provide certain accommodations for employees who decline to get vaccinated.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office also has joined multiple lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s federal vaccine mandates.
Family Council has a long history of supporting exemptions from vaccine mandates in Arkansas.
We don’t oppose immunizations, but we do believe people’s rights of conscience ought to be respected when it comes to getting vaccinated. Our laws should protect people from being forced to violate their conscience.
