Fayetteville City Council to Consider Revised Proposal Allowing Public Drinking

The Fayetteville City Council will revisit a proposal to allow public drinking in much of downtown, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Act 812 of 2019 by Sen. Trent Garner (R – El Dorado) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) lets cities create “entertainment districts” where alcohol can be carried and consumed publicly on streets and sidewalks.

These districts can be permanent or temporary, under Act 812.

The Fayetteville City Council tabled a proposal to permit public drinking downtown last October following concerns raised by businesses in the area.

The revised proposal up for consideration tonight still would allow public drinking throughout much of downtown as well as at certain events.

You can find the proposed ordinance as well as comments from the Fayetteville city staff here.

As we have continued to say for more than a year, public drinking is a scourge on the community.

It raises serious concerns about drunk driving and public safety.

Public drinking doesn’t attract new businesses or bolster the economy.

It hurts neighborhoods and families.

That’s why Family Council has put together a free toolkit to help citizens oppose these public drinking districts.

Our toolkit contains talking points, information about problems public drinking has caused in other states, photographs of public drinking districts elsewhere around the country, and other resources you can use to fight public drinking in your community.

Click here to download our free toolkit.

Report Shows Arkansas Winning Fight Against Abortion

Yesterday we reported that Arkansas’ abortion numbers have fallen to a 43-year low, according to documents released by the Arkansas Department of Health.

Today we want to delve a little more into those numbers.

On Monday the state Health Department released three reports regarding abortion in Arkansas:

Here’s a glimpse into what these reports reveal:

  • There were 2,963 abortions performed in Arkansas last year.
  • Abortion in Arkansas has fallen to its lowest levels since 1977.
  • Most of the women who had abortions last year probably were single moms.
  • More than 500 women chose not to have abortions after receiving the informed-consent information required by state law.
  • Surgical abortion dropped to historic lows while chemical abortion (RU-486) hit an all-time high in 2019.
  • Teen abortion dropped to the lowest levels our office has on record.

Over the coming days we plan to release additional information further analyzing these reports.

In the meantime, here is something important to take away from all of this:

Abortion in Arkansas has continued to decline year after year.

Arkansas has passed excellent pro-life laws, and these reports show those laws are saving lives.

Slowly but surely we are winning the fight to protect unborn children.