Page 268 – Family Council

Pro-LGBT Organization Criticizes Arkansas, Says “There is no more room for neutrality.”

Jun 11, 2024Jerry CoxLGBTFairness in Women's Sports, LGBT, SAFE Act, Transgender

On Monday the pro-LGBT organization Out Leadership released a report claiming Arkansas set “the lowest score ever recorded” in its 2024 State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index.

Out Leadership is a pro-LGBT organization whose goal is to “harness the power of business to advocate for equality.” The group leverages multimillion dollar corporations to promote its pro-LGBT ideology.

Monday’s report took issue with different laws and policies that states like Arkansas have passed — including laws protecting children from sex-change procedures and preserving fairness in women’s sports.

In a statement, Out Leadership said, “There is no more room for neutrality” on LGBT issues.

The truth is sex-change surgeries and procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life.

Researchers do not know all the long-term effects these procedures can have on children, but a growing body of scientific evidence shows children should not be subjected to sex-change procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones. That is why a growing number of states protect children from these procedures.

We have written repeatedly about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

In particular, female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, and others have seen their sports radically changed by biological males who identify and compete as women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports reverses 50 years of advancements for women. In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

Medical experts and everyday Americans increasingly agree that children need to be protected from sex-change procedures and that we need to preserve fairness in women’s sports. Unfortunately, there are still powerful, corporate interests who simply do not agree.

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

Group Hires Additional Canvassers for Marijuana Amendment Effort

Jun 11, 2024Jerry CoxMarijuanaMarijuana

The group promoting a marijuana amendment in Arkansas has hired hundreds of petition canvassers to place their measure on the November ballot, according to documents obtained from the Secretary of State’s office via the Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansans for Patient Access has until July 5 to collect 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters. The group has raised nearly $1 million their amendment campaign this year, according to reports filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.

State law lets ballot question committees hire Arkansas residents as petition canvassers to collect signatures.

The list obtained via FOIA indicates Arkansans for Limited Government currently has 425 paid canvassers. The group previously employed 381 paid petition canvassers.

The paid canvasser list was first acquired by Family Council Action Committee is available at FamilyCouncilActionCommittee.com.

Among other things, the marijuana amendment fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana and marijuana products can contain.

Marijuana users would no longer need to show they suffer from a specific medical condition listed in state law — making it easier for people to use marijuana recreationally.

The amendment lets people grow and use marijuana at home, and it would openly legalize marijuana in Arkansas if federal laws against marijuana are repealed.

The measure also repeals significant restrictions on marijuana advertising in Arkansas.

All of this would lead to more marijuana in Arkansas.

Arkansas voters rejected marijuana legalization at the ballot box in 2022. That amendment was opposed by a broad coalition of churches, business groups, elected officials, and citizens who knew that marijuana would be bad for Arkansas. We anticipate similar opposition to the 2024 marijuana amendment.

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

Group Hires Additional Canvassers for Abortion Amendment Effort

Jun 11, 2024Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Abortion Amendment, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

The group working to enshrine abortion into the Arkansas Constitution has hired more than 100 paid canvassers to collect signatures for its statewide petition drive, according to public documents obtained from the Secretary of State via the Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansans for Limited Government has until July 5 to collect 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

State law lets ballot question committees hire Arkansas residents as petition canvassers paid to collect signatures.

The list obtained via FOIA indicates Arkansans for Limited Government currently has 119 paid canvassers — most of whom appear to be concentrated in central and northwest Arkansas.

The paid canvasser list was first acquired by Family Council Action Committee is available at FamilyCouncilActionCommittee.com.

If passed, the Arkansas Abortion Amendment would write abortion into the state constitution, allowing thousands of elective abortions in Arkansas every year.

The amendment does not contain any medical licensing or health and safety standards for abortion.

The measure prevents the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy, and it automatically nullifies all state laws that conflict with the amendment. That jeopardizes even the most basic health and safety restrictions on abortion.

The amendment’s health exceptions would permit abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in many cases.

It also would pave the way for publicly funded abortion in Arkansas by changing Amendment 68 to the Arkansas Constitution that currently prohibits taxpayer funded abortion in the state.

To date, multiple organizations have come out against the amendment, including: