House Public Health Committee Passes Good Bill Clarifying State Abortion Laws

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On Tuesday the House Public Health Committee passed a good bill clarifying Arkansas’ laws concerning abortion.

Currently, state law prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.

H.B. 1610 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R — Texarkana) would clarify the definition of “medical emergency,” strengthen legal protections for doctors who treat pregnant women, close possible loopholes in the current abortion law, and make it clear that abortion remains illegal in Arkansas except to save the mother’s life.

Arkansas has been named the most pro-life state in America, and lawmakers have enacted dozens of good measures protecting women and unborn children from abortion — including laws that generally prohibit abortion except to save the life of the mother.

H.B. 1610 is a good bill that would bring better clarity to Arkansas’ abortion laws and make it easier for the state to continue protecting innocent human life.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration.

Below is part of Rep. Lundstrum’s committee testimony in support of H.B. 1610.

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

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Bill Filed to Crack Down on Abortion Pill Trafficking in Arkansas

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Legislation filed on Tuesday would strengthen penalties for violating Arkansas laws concerning abortion-inducing drugs.

Currently, Arkansas law generally prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother, and the state’s Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act, which passed in 2021, makes it a crime to mail or deliver drugs like RU-486 into Arkansas for purposes of abortion.

Last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued cease-and-desist letters to New York companies advertising abortion pills in Arkansas. The letters alleged the companies were violating Arkansas law, and the A.G.’s office later announced the advertisements for abortion pills stopped as a result of their cease-and-desist.

However, NPR reported last year that lawmakers in some pro-abortion states have enacted “shield laws” to protect abortionists who ship abortion drugs across state lines. The shield laws give abortionists immunity from civil or criminal liability and prevent them from being extradited to the state where the abortion drugs were sent.

H.B. 1678 by Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) would amend Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act to help address this problem. The bill would increase the penalty for selling or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs — making the crime a felony and levying a $50,000 fine against doctors, pharmacists, or other individuals who break the law.

The bill also would also make it easier to take a person to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act, and it would clarify that selling or prescribing illegal abortion drugs is considered a form of “deceptive trade” under Arkansas law.

All of this would provide additional options for enforcing Arkansas’ pro-life laws.

Abortion-inducing drugs take the life of an unborn child. They also carry significant health risks for women — including risks of sepsis and death. In some cases, abortion drugs actually can be more dangerous for women than surgical abortion procedures. That is why states like Arkansas have prohibited the delivery of abortion drugs from out of state.

H.B. 1678 would help tighten state restrictions on abortion drugs — which would provide better protection for women and unborn children in Arkansas.

You Can Read H.B. 1678 Here.

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

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Here is One of the Educational Videos “Baby Olivia Act” Would Let Arkansas Students See

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H.B. 1180, the Baby Olivia Act by Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) and Sen. Clint Penzo (R — Springdale) ensures public schools show students a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video that is at least three minutes long as part of sex-education and human growth and development education courses.

It also lets students see a video like Live Action’s computer-animated “Meet Baby Olivia” video that teaches about human development from conception to birth.

The Baby Olivia Act passed with overwhelming support in the Arkansas House last month, but so far the Senate Education Committee has rejected this good bill.

You can actually see video footage of the committee failing to pass H.B. 1180 here.

The Arkansas Surgeon General, pro-life OB/GYNs, and various pro-life groups and leaders in the state support the Baby Olivia Act.

Pro-abortion groups like the Arkansas Abortion Support Network, For AR People, and the liberal medical organization ACOG oppose the measure.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas has even gone so far as to claim the bill would force students to watch “pro-life propaganda.”

But it’s important to note the videos that H.B. 1180 authorizes never even mention abortion. The bill simply makes it possible for schools to show students ultrasound recordings of an unborn child and a video like Live Action’s educational “Meet Baby Olivia” video that teaches about fetal development.

Ultrasound images of unborn babies and educational videos that teach about human development in the womb make it clear that unborn children are living human beings. In fact, ultrasound images arguably have done more than anything to demonstrate the humanity of the unborn.

H.B. 1180 is a good bill that would help public school students understand that unborn children are not simply a clump of cells.

Below is the “Meet Baby Olivia” video by Live Action. H.B. 1180 would let public schools show a video like this one to students as part of human fetal growth and development education.

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

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