Fayetteville Judge Blocks Part of State Law Protecting Children From Explicit Library Material

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On Friday U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks blocked two sections of Act 372 of 2023, a good law that generally prohibits giving or sending a child harmful material that contains nudity or sexual activity.

The law also eliminates exemptions for libraries and schools in the state’s obscenity statute, and it clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

The law was slated to take effect August 1, but in June a coalition of libraries in Arkansas led by the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging portions of Act 372.

Friday’s preliminary injunction prevents the State of Arkansas from enforcing Section 1 and Section 5 of Act 372.

Section 1 of Act 372 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to give or send a child harmful sexual material that contains nudity or sexual activity.

Section 5 of Act 372 clarifies how library patrons can work to remove objectionable material from a library’s catalog.

The ruling did not affect Sections 2, 3, 4, and 6 of Act 372, which eliminate exemptions for schools and libraries in the state’s obscenity statute, address inappropriate material in public school libraries, and permit the disclosure of certain library records.

Family Council has heard repeatedly from people who are deeply troubled by obscene and inappropriate children’s books that some librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

For example, the Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies over its decision to place books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Some of the people who testified publicly against Act 372 last spring signaled that they want to be free to share obscene material with children at a library. That simply isn’t right.

Act 372 is a good law that will help protect children in Arkansas. We believe higher courts will recognize that fact and ultimately uphold this law as constitutional.

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Arkansas Attorney General Appeals to Eighth Circuit Over Law Protecting Children From Sex-Change Procedures

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On July 21, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s team appealed to the federal Eighth Circuit to let the state enforce the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

The SAFE Act is a good law the Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly enacted in 2021. It protects children in Arkansas from sex-reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones. Unfortunately, the law has been tied up in court for more than two years, and a federal judge in Little Rock blocked the state from enforcing the law in June.

Sex-change surgeries and procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids. That is why many experts agree that subjecting children to sex-change procedures is experimental, at best.

In 2021 a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

Last year the U.K.’s National Health Services closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years. Many families have indicated their children were subjected to sex-reassignment at that clinic despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

A gender-identity clinic in Scotland has faced similar accusations from former patients who say healthcare professionals rushed them into sex-change procedures.

And last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed symptoms of tumor-like masses in the brain.

Interestingly, public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans saying it’s morally wrong to change genders.

With all of this in mind, the SAFE Act is commonsense legislation that protects children. Family Council is confident that higher courts will recognize that fact and uphold this good law as constitutional.

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

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States Bolster Funding for Pro-Life Pregnancy Resource Centers

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Since the 2022 Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, state legislatures around the country have bolstered state funding for pregnancy help organizations that provide women with alternatives to abortion.

For years, pro-life states have provided publicly funded grants and subsidies for pregnancy resource centers that help women with unplanned pregnancies. Those efforts have accelerated in recent months.

In Ohio, lawmakers raised the state’s biannual budget for pregnancy resource centers this year from $6 million to $14 million.

In Tennessee this year, legislators appropriated $20 million for pro-life organizations that provide alternatives to abortion. Florida’s state budget allocates $30 million pregnancy help organizations.

Texas offers $100 million per biennium for its abortion alternatives program.

Kansas — where some 405 women from Arkansas had abortions in 2022 — will provide $2 million in funding for pregnancy centers during the coming budget cycle.

This year the Arkansas Legislature voted to provide $1 million in grant funding for pregnancy help organizations that offer women and families alternatives to abortion.

Many of these organizations provide everything from ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to maternity clothes and adoption referrals — typically free of charge. They often operate on very tight budgets and rely heavily on volunteers and donations.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed and Arkansas has prohibited abortion except to save the life of the mother, we need to step up and help women with unplanned pregnancies.

Providing grant funding for pregnancy help organizations is part of our long term strategy to reduce the demand for abortion in Arkansas.

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