This week ministers, community leaders, and lawmakers met at the Capitol to pray as part of the Arkansas Pastors Network.
This network provides opportunities for ministers to support and pray for our lawmakers. Below are some photos from the day’s events.
This afternoon the Arkansas Senate passed a good, pro-life bill.
House Bill 1394 by Rep. Fite requires abortion doctors to follow FDA protocols when performing drug-induced abortions. The bill protects women from unsafe abortion practices, and it prevents abortion doctors from performing drug-induced abortion later than the FDA protocols allow.
All told, 26 senators voted for the bill; 5 senators voted against it; and 3 senators did not vote. You can see how your senator voted here.
The bill now goes to Governor Hutchinson to be signed into law.
Our friends at Focus On The Family in Colorado Springs have put together some compelling information on marijuana and what legalization means for our communities. In case you have any doubts, the news is not good.
In one of their latest emails, Focus writes,
When Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, a Pandora’s Box of problems was opened.
Washington State, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia have already followed Colorado’s lead. And, similar efforts to legalize the drug are picking up steam in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Maine—and now the U.S. Senate.
Marijuana leads to a host of social problems and health-related risks, including increases in drug addition, mental illness, homelessness and crime, along with permanent damage to memory, lung function and brain development—especially in teens. Yet, even with this evidence, states are lining up to legalize this drug for recreational use.
On March 10, an historic and sweeping Senate bill was introduced to essentially end the federal ban on marijuana. The bipartisan CARERS Act—short for Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States—would remove any fear of federal prosecution. While patients and doctors are highlighted as the “compassionate” recipients of this legislation, the biggest benefactor would be the growing marijuana industry.
Meanwhile, another law—the Law of Unintended Consequences—seems to go unnoticed in what Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper calls, “the greatest social experiment of the 21st century.”