Above: Gov. Sanders signs the LEARNS Act into law during a bill signing ceremony at the Arkansas Capitol.
On Wednesday Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed S.B. 294, the LEARNS Act, into law.
The LEARNS Act is a good law that could provide students in Arkansas with unprecedented access to education.
As we have written before, the LEARNS Act will make it possible for students to receive a publicly-funded education at a public or private school or at home.
The LEARNS Act will empower families to make decisions about how they educate their children. That could give families real education choices that will help their children succeed.
The LEARNS Act also prohibits critical race theory in public schools, and it protects young elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material.
We are grateful to legislators for passing the LEARNS Act, and we applaud Gov. Sanders for signing it into law.
Above: Rep. Bentley presents S.B. 199 in committee.
On Wednesday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a measure to protect children from medical malpractice in sex-change procedures.
S.B. 199 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) lets a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure sue the healthcare provider who performed procedure if the child suffers any injury as a result.
The bill would let a child file a lawsuit if he or she experiences:
A physical or physiological injury from the sex-change procedure
A psychological or emotional injury from the sex-change procedure
An injury from treatments related to the sex-change procedure
An injury from the after-effects of the sex-change procedure
S.B. 199 also outlines informed-consent processes for sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones, and it contains protections for healthcare providers who decline to perform sex-reassignment procedures.
More and more, scientific evidence shows sex-reassignment procedures are harmful to children.
Research published this year calls into question the original studies that encouraged doctors to give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children with gender dysphoria.
Last year the U.K.’s National Health Services closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years. Families have indicated their children were subjected to sex-reassignment at that clinic despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.
A gender-identity clinic in Scotland faces similar accusations from former patients who say healthcare professionals rushed them into sex-change procedures.
On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a bill expanding interscholastic opportunities for home schoolers.
S.B. 361 by Sen. Matt McKee (R – Pearcy) and Rep. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance) amends Arkansas’ “Tim Tebow” law that lets home schoolers participate in athletics and other interscholastic activities at their local public schools. The “Tebow” law is named after former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was able to play football as a home schooler thanks to a similar law in Florida.
S.B. 361 makes it easier for home schoolers to participate in an activity in a neighboring school district if their local district doesn’t offer the activity.
It also clarifies requirements in the “Tebow” law about enrollment in public school classes and about the waiting period for students who withdraw from a public school to start home schooling.
