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Governor Signs New Abortion Restrictions in Arkansas

Apr 28, 2021Jerry CoxCurrent Events

*Rep. Cloud presents S.B. 388 in the Arkansas House.*

On Tuesday Gov. Hutchinson signed S.B. 388 into law. The measure is now Act 949 of 2021.

This good law by Sen. Charles Beckham (R – McNeil) and Rep. Joe Cloud (R – Russellville) requires any facility that performs abortions to be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health as an abortion facility.

Act 949 also prohibits abortions in hospitals except in cases of medical emergency.

The measure previously passed the Arkansas Senate and the Arkansas House with strong support.

Under current law, clinics are not required to be licensed or inspected as abortion facilities unless they perform more than ten abortions in a month.

That means that a clinic potentially could perform upwards of 100 or more abortions per year without being licensed or inspected by the State of Arkansas as an abortion facility.

Act 949 addresses this shortcoming in Arkansas law.

This will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to enforce the good, pro-life laws that legislators have implemented over the years. It will ensure that every clinic that performs abortions is licensed and inspected, and that Arkansas’ laws against abortion are properly followed.

Act 949 will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to identify and shut down facilities performing occasional abortions if the facilities aren’t complying with Arkansas’ other pro-life laws.

This is a pro-life law that has the potential to do a lot of good in Arkansas.

Arkansas Legislature Refers Religious Freedom Amendment to Voters

Apr 28, 2021Jerry CoxReligious FreedomReligious Liberty

On Tuesday the Arkansas Legislature passed S.J.R. 14.

This good measure by Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) refers the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment to voters for the November 2022 election.

If enacted, S.J.R. 14 would write good protections for religious liberty into the Arkansas Constitution.

It prevents the government from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion. The measure is similar to Arkansas’ state Religious Freedom Restoration Act. However, it writes protections for religious freedom into the Arkansas Constitution.

Read S.J.R. 14 Here.

Telling the Truth from a Joke

Apr 28, 2021John StonestreetLGBTLGBT

A few days ago, my friend Rod Dreher tweeted, “We have gone through the looking glass.” He was responding to another tweet from someone whose transgender friend felt hurt that, despite now identifying as female, his DNA test still came up as XY.

This could’ve been a joke. After all, surely, no one would think that taking hormones would alter their genetics, anymore than dyeing hair or wearing colored contacts could.

But today, it’s entirely believable that someone would take offense at the outcome of a DNA test. In a culture so devoted to what Carl Trueman identifies as “expressive individualism,” where millions truly believe that our desires determine reality in every other sense, it’s not such a stretch that some would think that self-expression should determine DNA.

Christians are called to love God and our neighbors. That can only happen by being committed to truth.