Senate Education Committee Rejects Good Bill to Teach Students About Unborn Children

Legislation, , , ,

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee rejected a good bill that would help teach public school students in Arkansas about unborn children.

H.B. 1946 by Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) and Sen. Clint Penzo (R — Springdale) requires public schools to provide human growth and development education in grades 6 – 12 every school year.

The bill requires the courses to include a three-minute high-definition ultrasound video and a high-quality, computer animated video depicting the process of fertilization and every stage of fetal development.

Under H.B. 1946, this instruction would be included in biology and sex-education courses.

H.B. 1946 passed with strong support in the Arkansas House of Representatives on Tuesday, and Rep. Bentley presented it to the Senate Education Committee the following morning.

During her remarks, Rep. Bentley noted that there is no known opposition to H.B. 1946, and she asked the committee members to support the bill. However, the bill failed to pass.

H.B. 1946 is the second fetal development education bill to be rejected by the Senate Education Committee. In February the committee failed to pass H.B. 1180, the Baby Olivia Act, by Rep. Bentley and Sen. Penzo. H.B. 1180 would ensure 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, and it would let students see a video like Live Action’s computer-animated “Meet Baby Olivia” video that teaches about human development from conception to birth.

Although the Senate Education Committee has rejected H.B. 1946 and H.B. 1180, the committee did pass S.B. 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis (R — Russellville) and Rep. Kendra Moore (R — Lincoln) — a good bill that lets public school students see a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video as part of human fetal growth and development education courses. The bill also lets students learn important facts about how unborn children develop in the womb.

S.B. 450 received strong support in the Arkansas Senate, and it has been sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

It’s good to see lawmakers taking such an interest in teaching public school students about unborn children.

Ultrasound technology provides what some people call a “window into the womb” demonstrating that unborn children are living human beings. Good bills like H.B. 1180, S.B. 450, and H.B. 1946 help Arkansas’ students understand that.

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

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Arkansas Senate Passes Bill to Prohibit Race-Selection Abortion if Pro-Life Laws Ever Change

Abortion, , , ,

On Wednesday night the Arkansas Senate passed a bill that would prohibit certain abortions if Arkansas’ pro-life laws ever change.

Since 2022, abortion in Arkansas has been prohibited except to save the life of the mother. This year the Arkansas Legislature passed a law clarifying and closing possible loopholes in the state’s pro-life laws.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Arkansas passed dozens of different laws restricting and prohibiting abortion — including laws protecting unborn children from being aborted because of their sex or because they may be at risk for Down Syndrome. Technically, those good laws are still on the books, and they could be enforced if a federal court ever blocked Arkansas’ laws that generally prohibit abortion.

S.B. 591 by Sen. Clint Penzo (R — Springdale) and Rep. Karilyn Brown (R — Sherwood) would prohibit abortions performed due to the unborn baby’s race if Arkansas’ pro-life laws are ever amended or struck down.

The Arkansas Senate voted overwhelmingly for this good law on Wednesday. S.B. 591 now goes to the Arkansas House of Representatives for consideration.

The Following Senators Voted For S.B. 591

  • J. Boyd
  • J. Bryant
  • Caldwell
  • A. Clark
  • Crowell
  • B. Davis
  • Dees
  • J. Dismang
  • J. Dotson
  • J. English
  • Flippo
  • Gilmore
  • K. Hammer
  • Hester
  • Hickey
  • Hill
  • Irvin
  • B. Johnson
  • M. Johnson
  • B. King
  • M. McKee
  • J. Payton
  • C. Penzo
  • J. Petty
  • Rice
  • Stone
  • G. Stubblefield
  • D. Sullivan
  • D. Wallace

The Following Senators Voted Against S.B. 591

  • S. Flowers
  • G. Leding
  • F. Love
  • R. Murdock
  • J. Scott
  • C. Tucker

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

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House Health Committee Defeats Bad Abortion Law

Abortion, , , ,

On Tuesday afternoon the House Public Health Committee defeated a bad law that would possibly allow hundreds — or even thousands — of abortions on healthy unborn children every year.

Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother. This year Arkansas passed an excellent measure clarifying and closing loopholes in the state’s pro-life laws.

H.B. 1880 by Rep. Ashley Hudson (D — Little Rock) would expand abortion in Arkansas.

The bill would add sweeping health exceptions for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. It also would permit abortion in cases of rape or incest or when a baby may be at risk of certain fetal abnormalities.

In other states, courts have interpreted health exceptions like the ones in H.B. 1880 very broadly. Adding these kinds of vague exceptions to pro-life laws makes it much easier to justify abortion and can effectively allow abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy in some cases.

On Tuesday the House Public Health Committee met to discuss H.B. 1880, and many pro-lifers were present to testify against the bill. During discussion, Rep. Ryan Rose (R — Van Buren) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) highlighted flaws in the bill’s wording and ways it would undermine Arkansas’ good laws that protect women and unborn children from abortion.

After hearing testimony on the bill, the committee voted against this bad abortion measure.

Family Council deeply appreciates our friends at Arkansas Right to Life who worked very hard against this bill, and we want to thank the state representatives who spoke against the bill and voted against it in committee on Tuesday.

As we have written many times, since 2019, there has been a lot of discussion about putting exceptions for rape and incest in Arkansas’ pro-life laws.

Rape and incest are evil. A woman who is raped is a victim in every sense of the word, and only about 2%–5% of all abortions are performed because of rape or incest.

In light of that, it’s easy for some people to justify abortion in these situations.

But there are serious problems with allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest.

Below are a few points to consider.

The Unborn Baby is Totally Innocent

An unborn boy or girl has no control over how he or she was conceived.

These are living human beings.

It is not right to kill an unborn baby because the baby’s father was a rapist.

Abortion Helps Conceal Crimes Like Rape, Incest, and Sex Trafficking

Sexual predators sometimes coerce their victims into having abortions to conceal rape or incest.

In 2016 abortionist Ulrich Klopfer admitted to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board that he once performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl from Illinois who had been raped by her uncle.

Dr. Klopfer did not report the crime to law enforcement. He let the girl go home to her parents who knew about the rape and had decided not to prosecute. As far as we can tell, that girl’s uncle was never brought to justice.

In 2014 researchers Laura Lederer and Christopher Wetzel found 55% of sex-trafficking survivors surveyed reported at least one abortion, and 29.9% reported multiple abortions. Lederer and Wetzel concluded,

The prevalence of forced abortions is an especially disturbing trend in sex trafficking. . . . One victim noted that “in most of [my six abortions,] I was under serious pressure from my pimps to abort the babies.” Another survivor, whose abuse at the hands of her traffickers was particularly brutal, reported seventeen abortions and indicated that at least some of them were forced on her.

Abortion helps cover up evil crimes like these.

Rapists Have No Legal Claim to Their Victims or Their Victims’ Children

Under Arkansas law, a rapist has no legal claim to his victim or the children of his victim.

That means a woman or girl who becomes pregnant because of rape can keep the child or put the child up for adoption, but she does not have to consult the rapist or share custody with him.

Arkansas law is very clear on that point.

Additionally, state courts can take other appropriate action to protect victims of rape or incest and their children.

Abortion Does Not Heal the Harm That Rape and Incest Cause

Abortion doesn’t heal the wounds that rape or incest leave behind.

Abortion takes the life of an unborn baby, and it carries dangerous risks for the woman.

Abortion is not a quick fix. Its consequences are very serious.

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

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