The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) will hold a public hearing on Thursday at 2:00 PM to discuss a proposed amendment to its rules governing the Pregnancy Help Organization Grant Program.
In April, Governor Sanders signed Act 1006 of 2025 by the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee providing $2 million for grants to pregnancy help organizations — including pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other charities that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.
The State of Arkansas has funded this grant program every year since 2022 to help promote alternatives to abortion.
In July, DFA received 39 applications for grant funding under the program. However, the department has not taken any action on the applications and reportedly does not have a timeline for awarding grants to the pregnancy help organizations.
Based on DFA’s public hearing notice, Thursday’s meeting likely will not address when the department might begin awarding grants to pregnancy centers. Instead, it will focus on technical changes to the official rules governing the grant program.
Arkansans may submit written comments on the proposed rule changes to the Department of Finance and Administration – Office of Intergovernmental Services, P.O. Box 8031, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 or to igsclearinghouse@dfa.arkansas.gov.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
Above: Planned Parenthood’s abortion facility in Pittsburg, Kansas, markets abortion to women from Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas.
On November 6, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against abortion giant Planned Parenthood for lying to women by claiming abortion pills are, “safer than Tylenol.”
The “safer than Tylenol” marketing campaign has been ongoing for years and targeted to women in Florida. Just a few weeks ago, Defendant Planned Parenthood Florida Action proclaimed on X.com that “Mifepristone is safe. Safer than Tylenol.” That claim is manifestly false.
Abortionists typically use two separate pills for a chemical abortion. Mifepristone is administered to kill the unborn baby. A second drug called misoprostol causes the baby to be expelled from the woman’s body. Both carry serious risks and consequences.
A study by the experts at the Ethics and Public Policy Center found the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol are at least 22 times more dangerous than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling indicates.
Researchers noted that from 2017 to 2023, nearly one in nine women suffered serious health complications such as sepsis, infection, and hemorrhaging as a direct result of abortion drugs.
All of this has prompted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to launch a formal investigation into the abortion drugs and their safety.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office cited these findings and others in its lawsuit, writing:
These are inconvenient truths for Planned Parenthood, whose business model is built around high-margin chemical abortions. So rather than admit the danger of chemical abortion, Planned Parenthood lies. The abortion conglomerate not only assures its patients that abortion drugs are “extremely safe”—a dubious claim itself; it repeatedly declares that abortion drugs are “safer than Tylenol.”
In fact, abortion drugs are not safer than Tylenol. These claims have no basis in reality and have been repeatedly debunked. Nevertheless, Planned Parenthood continues to make them: on its website, in printed materials, on live television, and during interactions with patients.
Arkansas law generally prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother, and it is a crime to mail or deliver abortion pills into the state. Abortionists who break the law are subject to criminal penalties. They also may be sued for malpractice, and they may face professional discipline — like suspension of their medical licenses.
Unfortunately, pro-abortion lawmakers in some states have enacted “shield laws” to protect abortionists who ship these dangerous abortion pills across state lines.
Fortunately, Attorney General Tim Griffin has threatened legal action against companies advertising abortion drugs in Arkansas. The attorney general says these groups may be penalized under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He has also urged the federal government to restrict abortion drugs and let states like Arkansas enforce their pro-life laws.
Abortion drugs end the lives of unborn children, and they hurt women. They simply should not be for sale in America. We appreciate Florida Attorney General Uthmeier and Arkansas Attorney General Griffin for each standing up against abortionists.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
So far this fiscal year, the State of Arkansas has not disbursed any of the grant funding that lawmakers and Governor Sanders appropriated in April to support women with unplanned pregnancies.
Act 1006 of 2025 by the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee provides $2 million for grants to pregnancy help organizations — including pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other charities that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.
The State of Arkansas also can award funding to charities 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 food banks, food pantries, and food distribution centers.
Act 1006 makes it clear that grant money will not go to abortionists or their affiliates.
Under the measure, the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) is responsible for receiving grant applications and disbursing grant funds to charities that support women with unplanned pregnancies.
DFA opened the grant application window for pregnancy help organizations last summer, and DFA spokesperson Scott Hardin tells Family Council the department received a total of 39 applications. However, the department does not currently have a timeline for awarding grants to the pregnancy help organizations.
By working through existing charities, Arkansas is able to support women and children without creating new government offices or bureaucracy.
The grants are optional. Pregnancy resource centers are not required to accept public tax dollars if they do not want to. But for those who receive grant money, the funding may make a tremendous difference.
Pro-lifers in Arkansas have made abortion illegal. We need to make abortion irrelevant and unthinkable as well. Supporting pregnancy help organizations is one way we can do that.
Pregnancy resource centers give women real options besides abortion, making it less likely they will travel out of state for abortion or order illegal abortion drugs online.
Arkansas’ Pregnancy Help Organization Grant Program provides millions of dollars for women and unborn children and their families. Family Council has been pleased to work with our friends in the Arkansas Legislature and the Governor’s Office to make this funding available, and we look forward to seeing it distributed to eligible charities in communities all across Arkansas.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
