Page 469 – Family Council

Updated: Arkansas House of Representatives Passes Religious Freedom Measure

Apr 3, 2023Jerry CoxLegislation, Religious FreedomArkansas Legislature, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, RFRA

On Monday the Arkansas House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a good bill enhancing protections for religious freedom.

H.B. 1615, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch), makes important clarifications to the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The bill also helps prohibit religious discrimination against individuals, business owners, and organizations that want to follow their deeply held religious convictions.

In 2015 Gov. Hutchinson signed Arkansas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. That good law has been on the books for the past eight years.

Since then, we have seen wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, and florist shops come under fire, because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions. That is why it is so important for our laws to protect religious liberty as much as possible.

H.B. 1615 improves on good state law to help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

If enacted, H.B. 1615 would provide Arkansans with some of the best religious freedom protections in the nation.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.

The Following Representatives Voted For H.B. 1615

Achor
Andrews
Barker
Beaty Jr.
Beck
Bentley
M. Berry
S. Berry
Breaux
Brooks
K. Brown
M. Brown
Burkes
Joey Carr
John Carr
Cavenaugh
C. Cooper
Cozart
Crawford
Dalby
Duffield
Eaves
Eubanks
Evans
C. Fite
L. Fite
Fortner
Furman
Gazaway
Gonzales
Gramlich
Haak
Hawk
D. Hodges
G. Hodges
Holcomb
Hollowell
L. Johnson
Ladyman
Long
Lundstrum
Lynch
Maddox
J. Mayberry
McAlindon
McClure
McCollum
M. McElroy
McGrew
B. McKenzie
McNair
Miller
Milligan
J. Moore
K. Moore
Painter
Pearce
Pilkington
Puryear
Ray
Richmond
Rose
Rye
Schulz
R. Scott Richardson
Steimel
Tosh
Underwood
Unger
Vaught
Walker
Wardlaw
Warren
Watson
Wing
Womack
Wooldridge
Wooten

The Following Representatives Voted Against H.B. 1615

F. Allen
Clowney
A. Collins
Duke
Ennett
D. Ferguson
V. Flowers
D. Garner
Hudson
Magie
McCullough
Nicks
J. Richardson
Scott
T. Shephard
Springer
D. Whitaker

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

K. Ferguson
Jean
S. Meeks
Perry
Speaker Shepherd

Committee Passes Good Bill Concerning Pro-Life Cities, Counties in Arkansas

Apr 3, 2023Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Pro-Life Cities, Pro-Life Counties, Sanctity of Human Life

On Monday the House City, County, and Local Affairs Committee passed a bill to help expand Pro-Life political subdivisions in Arkansas.

S.B. 446 by Sen. Joshua Bryant (R – Rogers) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R – Cave Springs) builds on Arkansas’ law that lets cities and counties pass Pro-Life resolutions.

Act 392 of 2021 affirms that cities and counties can designate themselves as Pro-Life. To date, nearly half of all Arkansans live in a Pro-Life City or Pro-Life County.

S.B. 446 expands this 2021 law so that any political subdivision of the state can declare itself to be Pro-Life — not just a city or a county.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade and abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas, citizens and their elected officials need to establish exactly where they stand when it comes to protecting innocent human life.

S.B. 446 is a good bill that will help communities do exactly that.

The bill previously passed the Arkansas Senate. S.B. 446 now goes to the entire Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration.

Norwegian Agency Pumps Brakes on Medical Intervention for Gender Dysphoria

Apr 3, 2023Jerry CoxTransgenderLGBT, Transgender

Last month, a Norwegian independent government agency declared that Norway’s current standards of so-called “gender-affirming” care need to change. The report, published by the Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board (UKOM), found that using puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to treat gender dysphoria in youth lacks scientific basis and carries high risk. The board called for any future standards of treatment to be based on a systematic review of existing research as well as a multidisciplinary approach.

UKOM’s findings are important for three reasons. First, Norway has now joined the growing list of European countries that are pumping the brakes on harmful treatments for gender dysphoria. Second, these findings only further confirm what we should now know: that chemical and surgical “gender-affirming” interventions are experimental and not evidence-based. Third, and above all, what has happened in Norway should make us commit here and again to protect children’s God-given bodies and to purge medicine of destructive gender ideology.