Governor Signs New Abortion Restrictions in Arkansas

Current Events
Rep. Cloud presents S.B. 388 in the Arkansas House.

On Tuesday Gov. Hutchinson signed S.B. 388 into law. The measure is now Act 949 of 2021.

This good law by Sen. Charles Beckham (R – McNeil) and Rep. Joe Cloud (R – Russellville) requires any facility that performs abortions to be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health as an abortion facility.

Act 949 also prohibits abortions in hospitals except in cases of medical emergency.

The measure previously passed the Arkansas Senate and the Arkansas House with strong support.

Under current law, clinics are not required to be licensed or inspected as abortion facilities unless they perform more than ten abortions in a month.

That means that a clinic potentially could perform upwards of 100 or more abortions per year without being licensed or inspected by the State of Arkansas as an abortion facility.

Act 949 addresses this shortcoming in Arkansas law.

This will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to enforce the good, pro-life laws that legislators have implemented over the years. It will ensure that every clinic that performs abortions is licensed and inspected, and that Arkansas’ laws against abortion are properly followed.

Act 949 will make it easier for the Arkansas Department of Health to identify and shut down facilities performing occasional abortions if the facilities aren’t complying with Arkansas’ other pro-life laws.

This is a pro-life law that has the potential to do a lot of good in Arkansas.

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Arkansas Legislature Refers Religious Freedom Amendment to Voters

Religious Freedom

On Tuesday the Arkansas Legislature passed S.J.R. 14.

This good measure by Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) refers the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment to voters for the November 2022 election.

If enacted, S.J.R. 14 would write good protections for religious liberty into the Arkansas Constitution.

It prevents the government from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion. The measure is similar to Arkansas’ state Religious Freedom Restoration Act. However, it writes protections for religious freedom into the Arkansas Constitution.

Read S.J.R. 14 Here.

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ACLU Opposes Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment

Religious Freedom,

This week the ACLU issued a series of statements on Twitter opposing the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment, S.J.R. 14.

This good measure by Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) would amend the Arkansas Constitution.

If adopted, it would prevent the government from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion.

The measure is similar to Arkansas’ state Religious Freedom Restoration Act. You Can Read S.J.R. 14 Here.

According to the ACLU, S.J.R. 14 is “among the most extreme [religious freedom measures] in the country,” and it would “put Arkansas out of step with nearly all other states.”

But that simply is not the case.

Most states have enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Acts similar to S.J.R. 14 already.

Alabama has a religious freedom amendment very similar to S.J.R. 14 in its state constitution.

In fact the ACLU used to support state and federal Religious Freedom Restoration Acts like these in 1990s.

State and federal measures restoring religious freedom in America came about because courts had so badly eroded religious liberty in America. The laws simply help restore protections for the free exercise of religion.

S.J.R. 14 is no different in that regard. It’s just a good measure that will help ensure that our state constitution protects religious liberty in Arkansas. That’s something that all of us ought to be able to support.

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