Governor Sanders Signs Good Law Protecting Women and Children from Abortion Drugs

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On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a good law clarifying that abortion by fraud is a crime in Arkansas.

Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and it is illegal to deliver abortion-inducing drugs into the state. Arkansas also has laws prohibiting fetal homicide.

However, Arkansas has no specific law addressing situations in which a person secretly gives abortion drugs like RU-486 to a pregnant woman.

H.B. 1551 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R — Paragould) makes it a felony to try to kill an unborn child by secretly giving a pregnant woman abortion-inducing drugs without her knowledge or consent.

In 2022 abortion drugs were secretly placed in Catherine Herring’s water in order to cause the death of her unborn child.

Ms. Herring suffered serious health complications and had to be hospitalized as a result. Since then, states have begun proposing laws like H.B. 1551 to prevent this type of crime.

H.B. 1551 passed the Arkansas House and Arkansas Senate without a single lawmaker voting against it. With the governor’s signature on Tuesday, H.B. 1551 is now slated to take full effect later this summer.

Family Council appreciates our friends at Arkansas Right to Life, who were the lead champions of this good law. We appreciate all of the state legislators who voted for H.B. 1551, and we appreciate the governor signing it into law.

H.B. 1551 is a good law that will help protect women and unborn children from dangerous abortion drugs. That is something Arkansans should be proud of.

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

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House Committee Discusses Ways to Fight Back Against Illegal Abortion Drugs

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Above: Rep. Wayne Long and Family Council staff member Erin Hogan discuss pro-life bill H.B. 1678 in the House Judiciary Committee.

Last week the House Judiciary Committee discussed a good bill that would help address illegal abortion drugs in Arkansas.

In Arkansas, abortion is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother. It is also against the law to deliver abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486 into the state.

However, pro-life states like Arkansas are struggling to stop abortionists in other states from trafficking illegal abortion drugs across state lines.

NPR reported last year that legislators in some pro-abortion states have enacted “shield laws” to protect abortionists who ship abortion drugs across state lines. The shield laws give abortionists immunity from civil or criminal liability and prevent them from being extradited to the state where the abortion drugs were sent. That makes it very difficult for authorities in Arkansas to hold abortionists in other states accountable for breaking the law.

This year Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) filed H.B. 1678 to strengthen Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act that prevents abortion drugs from being delivered or administered illegally in Arkansas.

H.B. 1678 would increase the penalty for selling or prescribing illegal abortion drugs, and it would make it easier to take an abortionist to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

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

The Arkansas Legislature is expected to adjourn soon, and lawmakers are running out of time to hear and discuss all of the bills at the Capitol right now. However, House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Carol Dalby (R — Texarkana) made sure that Rep. Long had an opportunity to present H.B. 1678 to the committee last week.

On April 3, the House Judiciary Committee met to discuss H.B. 1678 in committee. Rep. Long explained the bill to the committee members and took the time to answer questions about H.B. 1678. Several points were raised about the different ways Arkansas might enforce its good, pro-life laws. After about 20 minutes of discussion, Rep. Long opted to pull H.B. 1678 down so he could work on it some more. Pulling the bill down gives Rep. Long an opportunity to improve the bill and present it again at a later date.

Family Council deeply appreciates Rep. Dalby making sure H.B. 1678 received a fair hearing in the House Judiciary Committee last week, and we appreciate Rep. Long’s willingness to work with the committee members on this important issue.

Abortion drugs like RU-486 hurt women and kill unborn children. We simply can’t let abortionists in states like New York or California violate the pro-life laws that our legislators have passed.

Rep. Long, Rep. Dalby, and the House Judiciary Committee are giving this issue the attention it deserves, and Family Council is pleased to get to work alongside them to stop abortion drugs in Arkansas.

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

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State of Arkansas Has Awarded Nearly $1.7M to Pro-Life Pregnancy Help Organizations This Year

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This fiscal year, the State of Arkansas has awarded nearly $1.7 million to pro-life pregnancy help organizations.

Act 125 of 2024 by Sen. John Payton (R — Wilburn) authorized $2 million in grant funding to support pregnancy help organizations and maternal and infant wellness in Arkansas.

That funding has provided grants to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other organizations that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.

Since 2022, Family Council has worked closely with elected officials in Arkansas to provide publicly funded grants to good, pro-life charities.

So far, 35 pregnancy help organizations have received grant funding this year to help women and children in Arkansas. That’s something to celebrate!

Pregnancy resource centers and similar organizations give women real options besides abortion. That’s why a growing number of states provide these organizations with public funding.

It’s important to pass laws to prohibit abortion, but we also need to assist women with unplanned pregnancies.

Family Council is working with lawmakers to continue providing grant money to pregnancy help organizations in the 2025-2026 budget cycle.

Below is a list of pregnancy help organizations and the amount of grant funding each has received from the State of Arkansas so far this fiscal year.

PREGNANCY CENTERGRANT AMOUNT
INFORMED CHOICES WOMENS CENTER OF THE OZ$100,000.00
CRITTENDEN COUNTY CARES50,004.00
NEW BEGINNINGS PREGNANCY CENTER50,000.00
ST FRANCIS HOUSE NWA INCCOMMUNITY CLINIC50,000.00
PLUM FOUNDATIONPEACE LOVE UNDERSTANDING MERCY50,000.00
ST BERNARDS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION50,000.00
NEW BEGINNINGS PREGNANCY HELP CENTER OF50,000.00
HOPEPLACE – FORDYCE50,000.00
CHANGEPOINT PREGNANCY CARE AND PARENTING50,000.00
PREGNANCY HELP CENTERPREGNANCY HELP CLINIC50,000.00
ST JOSEPHS HELPERS OF PULASKI COUNTYARKANSAS PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER50,000.00
HOPEPLACE MONTICELLO50,000.00
OPTIONS A PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER INCOPTIONS50,000.00
OPEN ARMS PREGNANCY CENTER INC50,000.00
HEART TO HEART PREGNANCY SUPPORT CENTER50,000.00
COMPASSION MINISTRIES LTD50,000.00
SOUTH ARKANSAS CARING PREGNANCY CENTERHANNAH PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER50,000.00
ARKANSAS BAPTIST CHILDRENS HOMES AND FAMLIVING WELL COUNSELING49,980.00
CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER OF CENTRAL ARKANCARING HEARTS PREGNANCY CENTER49,957.34
ABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER49,876.00
FORT SMITH CHRISTIAN FAMILY SERVICES INC1ST CHOICE PREGNANCY MEDICAL CENTER49,850.00
HOPE OF THE DELTA CENTER49,349.04
DISCERNMENT LLC49,185.00
HOPEPLACE NEWPORT49,000.00
CRADLE THE MATERNITY SUPPORT CENTER OF CKATHLEEN BLOSSOM49,000.00
ACTS OF HOPE INCACTS OF HOPE, PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER48,776.00
PATHWAY RESOURCE CENTER47,660.00
CHOICES PREGNANCY RESOURCE CLINIC INC45,048.00
LIFES CHOICE PREGNANCY CARE CENTER44,535.00
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD FAMILY SERVICESCOMPACT FAMILY SERVICES44,273.00
PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER FOR SOUTHWEST43,700.00
BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION43,500.00
HOPES FIRST CHOICE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CE26,415.00
CENTRAL BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONBREATH OF LIFE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER26,249.00
ARKANSAS PREGNANCY NETWORK20,423.82
TOTAL$1,686,781.20

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