Governor Signs Measure Providing $2M in Grants to Support Pregnancy Centers, Maternal Wellness in Arkansas

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On Tuesday Governor Sanders signed a budget measure providing $2 million to support pregnancy help organizations and maternal and infant wellness in Arkansas.

The funding will provide grants to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other organizations that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.

For years, states across America have taken steps to provide pregnancy resource centers with state and federal tax money to support the services they provide.

This funding helps serve families at the local level without creating new government programs.

In 2022 Family Council worked with the legislature and the governor to secure $1 million for pregnancy centers. This funding provided grants to more than 20 pregnancy help organizations.

Last year we worked with lawmakers to renew this funding, and since then more than two dozen good organizations across the state have applied for this money and used it to give women and families real assistance when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

S.B. 64 makes improvements to the grant program. It increases state funding from $1 million per year to $2 million. This puts Arkansas’ funding on parr with funding in other states.

The law also clarifies that “pregnancy help organizations” include nonprofit organizations that promote infant and maternal wellness and reduce infant and maternal mortality by:

  • Providing nutritional information and/or nutritional counseling;
  • Providing prenatal vitamins;
  • Providing a list of prenatal medical care options;
  • Providing social, emotional, and/or material support; or
  • Providing referrals for WIC and community-based nutritional services, including but not limited to food banks, food pantries, and food distribution centers.

The measure includes language preventing state funds from going to abortionists and their affiliates.

This legislation is something Arkansans can be proud of. Family Council is grateful to the General Assembly for passing S.B. 64, and we appreciate Governor Sanders signing it into law. We look forward to seeing the state implement the expanded grant program in the coming fiscal year.

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Updated: Biden Administration Plans to Propose Rule Rescheduling Marijuana

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On Tuesday the A.P. reported that the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice plans to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.

Under federal law, Schedule I drugs are substances with a high risk of abuse and no FDA-approved medical use. Schedule III drugs are substances with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.

Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III substance would not legalize marijuana, but it would put marijuana in the same drug category as anabolic steroids or Tylenol with Codeine. As a rule, Schedule III substances are only available with a prescription from a licensed healthcare professional.

The Biden Administration is expected to accept public comments before issuing a final decision about rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III substance.

Research has shown time and again that marijuana has a significant potential for dependence and abuse — especially marijuana products that are high in THC. And the FDA has not approved marijuana as a medical treatment for any illness or condition.

With that in mind, it seems inappropriate for the Biden Administration to reclassify marijuana.

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

This article has been updated to reflect the fact that rescheduling marijuana would not legalize it, but it would affect the type of regulation to which marijuana is subject.

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Middle School Girls Barred From Track Meet for Refusing to Compete Against Biological Male

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Five middle school girls have been banned from competing in track and field in West Virginia after declining to compete against a biological male in shot put earlier this month. The male athlete reportedly placed first at the Harrison County Championships track meet on April 18 with a 32-foot, nine-inch throw — beating the second place competitor by more than three feet.

The students’ families have filed a lawsuit, alleging they are being unconstitutionally punished for exercising their freedom of speech. The lawsuit notes:

On April 18, 2024, the minor student athletes attended the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships track and field meet at Liberty High School and were scheduled to compete in shot put. The transgender student . . . was present at the meet and competing against the minor student athletes in shot put.

The minor student athletes, along with one other female student from Lincoln Middle School, stepped out of the shot put circle, forfeited, and refused to compete in protest of the court decision and the ongoing unfairness of permitting a biological male to compete in women’s sporting events.

The minor student athletes’ protests were silent. They each stepped into the shot put circle, raised the shot put to their chins, and then stepped out of the shot put circle and handed the shot put to the official.

The minor student athletes’ individual protests lasted approximately 10 seconds each and did not disrupt the track meet in any way.

The minor student athletes’ protest did not affect any other competitors.

Following their protest, the minor student athletes did not receive any notice that further action would be taken against them for protesting and forfeiting.

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.

It hampers girls’ abilities to compete for athletic scholarships, and it hurts their professional opportunities as adults.

In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

That’s part of the reason why the North American Grappling Association clarified its competition policy last fall, saying biological males must compete against other men, regardless of their gender identity.

Earlier this year the professional golf league NXXT Golf announced that only biological females would be eligible to participate in the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour.

And recently the NAIA announced a policy that should prevent male athletes from competing in women’s collegiate sports.

Many states — including Arkansas — have enacted laws that preserve fairness in women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school.

This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

It’s worth point out that public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans agreeing that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. 

Public opinion supports laws and policies preserving women’s sports. These laws protect women’s sports from being erased, and they help make sure students like these middle schoolers from West Virginia get a fair competition. There shouldn’t be anything controversial about that.

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

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