Governor Signs Measure Providing $2M in Grants to Support Pregnancy Centers, Maternal Wellness in Arkansas
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.
Updated: Biden Administration Plans to Propose Rule Rescheduling Marijuana
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.