Marianna Passes Pro-Life Resolution, Becomes Arkansas’ Second Pro-Life City

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Above: Ronni Schwantz looks on while Mayor Jimmy Williams of Marianna signs a resolution affirming that the city is pro-life. Marianna is Arkansas’ second Pro-Life City.

On Tuesday night the Marianna City Council passed a resolution affirming that the city is Pro-Life.

The resolution reads,

A RESOLTUION AFFIRMING THE COMMITMENT OF THE CITY OF MARIANNA, ARKANSAS TO PROTECTING THE UNALIENABLE RIGHT TO LIFE OF EVERY PERSON; AND DECLARING THE CITY OF MARIANNA, ARKANSAS TO BE A PRO-LIFE CITY.

WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including the right to life; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 68 to the Arkansas Constitution states that the policy of the State of Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth; and

WHEREAS, it is the duty of state and local governments to protect the unalienable right to life of every person within their respective jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court stated in Poelker v. Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not forbid a municipality, pursuant to democratic processes, from expressing a preference for normal childbirth instead of abortion;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Marianna, Arkansas:

Section 1: It is the policy of the City of Marianna to promote and protect the dignity and humanity of all persons at all stages of life from conception until natural death.

Section 2: The City of Marianna declares itself to be a Pro-Life City.

Marianna is Arkansas’ second Pro-Life City. The City of Springdale passed a similar resolution in 2019. This year Washington, Benton, Crawford, Cleburne, Pope, Jackson, Saline, and Faulkner counties have passed pro-life resolutions as well.

Act 392 of 2021 affirms that municipalities in Arkansas can designate themselves as Pro-Life.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that municipalities can adopt pro-life policy positions like these resolutions.

In fact, any city, town, or county in Arkansas can pass a pro-life resolution like the ones that these communities have passed.

Public opinion polling shows Arkansans are overwhelmingly pro-life. We hope other communities will pass their own pro-life resolutions — just like the City of Marianna.

If you would like to learn more about how you can pass a pro-life resolution in your community, give us a call at (501) 375-7000 or click here.

Above: A photo of Marianna’s pro-life resolution approved on October 12, 2021.

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Arkansas Gets Three Pro-Life Safe Haven Baby Boxes in a Week

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Since Sunday, communities in Arkansas have unveiled three new pro-life Safe Haven Baby Boxes — meaning Arkansas now has a total of eight Safe Haven Baby Boxes statewide.

Arkansas’ Safe Haven Act of 2001 lets a woman surrender her newborn baby to law enforcement, medical personnel, and first responders. The law gives women with unplanned pregnancies an option besides abortion.

Similar laws are on the books in all 50 states.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes installed at fire stations let women surrender an infant safely and anonymously using a specialized, hospital-grade bassinet designed to keep the baby secure while a silent alarm notifies first responders inside the fire station that the baby is there.

On Sunday pro-lifers blessed Arkansas’ sixth Safe Haven Baby Box at Maumelle’s Fire Station 1.

The seventh box was installed on Monday at Fire Station 11 in Fort Smith.

And an eighth box was unveiled Tuesday morning at Fire Station 2 in El Dorado.

Since June of 2019, Arkansas Right to Life has promoted Arkansas’ Safe Haven Act and the Safe Haven Baby Boxes through a billboard campaign.

So far, billboards have been placed in 23 counties across Arkansas. Right to Life’s goal is to place billboards in all 75 counties in the state.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes are amazing pieces of pro-life technology. It’s good to see communities continue to install them in Arkansans.

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Circuit Court Won’t Decide Arkansas’ Abortion Ban Until After SCOTUS Rules on Mississippi Law

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Earlier this month the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals quietly announced it would wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case before considering the lawsuit over Arkansas’ new law that generally prevents abortion.

Act 309 of 2021 by Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) prohibits abortion in Arkansas, except in cases when the mother’s life is in jeopardy. If enforced, this good law would save thousands of unborn children from abortion every year.

Act 309 was slated to take effect on July 28. However, the ACLU filed a lawsuit over Act 309, and U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker blocked the law just days before it was set to take effect.

In August, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge appealed Judge Baker’s decision to the Eighth Circuit.

However, earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.

That case deals with a law Mississippi passed in 2018 generally prohibiting abortion after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. Last May the ACLU dubbed Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health the “case that could decimate the constitutional right to abortion.”

In light of the fact that the court’s ruling on Mississippi’s pro-life law could affect pro-life legislation everywhere — including Arkansas — the Eighth Circuit has opted not to do anything with Arkansas’ Act 309 until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision.

Regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Mississippi’s case, Arkansas has an opportunity to see decades of bad abortion rulings overturned or reinterpreted in a pro-life way.

Arkansas and other states have passed a record-setting number of pro-life laws this year.

Most of those laws have gone unchallenged, and they are saving the lives of unborn children in Arkansas right now.

Slowly but surely we are winning the fight against abortion.

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