Arkansas’ 2025 Legislative Session Adjourns

On Monday the Arkansas House and Senate met to tie up loose ends and officially adjourn the 2025 legislative session.

Lawmakers passed several excellent bills this year. You can learn more about those new laws by downloading our 2025 General Assembly Report here.

You can also read our May edition of the Arkansas Citizen for a brief recap of the session’s highlights.

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

Planned Parenthood PAC Files Activity Report, Opposes Good Legislation in Arkansas

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood’s political action committee for Arkansas filed a report with the secretary of state showing the organization did not spend any money campaigning in Arkansas from January through March of this year.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortionist. In 2024, the organization endorsed two candidates running for the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2020, Planned Parenthood Federation announced it would spend at least $45 million working to unseat pro-life lawmakers and elect candidates who support abortion. As part of that plan, the group used its political action committee (PAC) to support candidates for state and federal office in Arkansas.

With that said, Planned Parenthood’s Arkansas PAC spent no money campaigning in Arkansas during the first quarter of 2025. However, the organization did actively oppose good bills at the legislature.

In a document published online, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas made statements against S.B. 444 and H.B. 1678 — two bills Family Council strongly supported.

S.B. 444 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Lee Johnson (R — Greenwood) is a good law that strengthens the healthcare workers’ rights of conscience law Arkansas passed in 2021.

Among other things, this law adds whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, and it helps protect all medical professionals from having their rights of conscience violated.

S.B. 444 passed with strong support at the Arkansas Legislature and has been signed into law as Act 970 of 2025.

H.B. 1678 is a good bill by Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) and Sen. John Payton (R — Wilburn) that would strengthen Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

The bill would have increased the penalty for selling or prescribing illegal abortion-inducing drugs, and it would have made it easier to take a person to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

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

H.B. 1678 did not come up for a vote at the legislature, but lawmakers did refer it for interim study — meaning the legislature will have opportunities to meet and discuss the bill, but will not vote on it.

On the whole, Arkansas’ lawmakers are very pro-life, and Planned Parenthood’s opposition did not stop legislators from passing S.B. 444 or choosing to continue discussions on H.B. 1678.

Planned Parenthood’s PAC has a little over $11,500 at its disposal for the 2026 election cycle. Time will tell what role the organization might play in Arkansas in the coming months.

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

Governor Sanders Signs Law to Give Students a Window into the Womb

On Monday Governor Sanders signed a good law to help teach public school students about unborn children.

S.B. 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis (R — Russellville) and Rep. Kendra Moore (R — Lincoln) lets public school students see a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video as part of human fetal growth and development education courses.

The law also makes it possible for students to learn important facts about how unborn children develop in the womb.

Similar legislation reportedly has passed in North Dakota, Tennessee, Idaho, and Kansas.

With the governor’s signature, S.B. 450 is now Act 915 of 2025. Act 915 received overwhelming support in the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives, and we want to recognize the legislature for supporting this good law and Governor Sanders for signing it on Monday.

Very few medical advancements have done more to change hearts and minds on abortion than ultrasound technology. In fact, research has shown that some women are less likely to have an abortion if they see an ultrasound image of their unborn child. Act 915 will help students understand that unborn children are human beings.

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