Religious Freedom – Page 4

Arkansas House Passes Bill Protecting Religious Freedom

Apr 4, 2025Jerry CoxReligious FreedomArkansas Legislature, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty

On Thursday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a good measure protecting religious liberty.

H.B. 1615 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) would ensure that religious organizations and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

Time and again, wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, florist shops, and others have been targeted by public officials and dragged into court simply because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions.

H.B. 1615 will help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

As we have written before, Arkansas has passed some of the best religious freedom protections in the country over the years. In 2015, the state enacted its Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And lawmakers passed good bills in 2023 to strengthen that law.

H.B. 1615 helps further improve Arkansas’ laws protecting the free exercise of religion.

The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.

The Following Representatives Voted For H.B. 1615

Andrews
Beaty Jr.
Beck
Bentley
S. Berry
Breaux
A. Brown
K. Brown
M. Brown
N. Burkes
R. Burkes
Joey Carr
John Carr
Cavenaugh
Childress
C. Cooper
Cozart
Crawford
Dalby
Duffield
Duke
Furman
Gazaway
Gramlich
Holcomb
Hollowell
Jean
L. Johnson
Ladyman
Long
Lundstrum
Lynch
Maddox
J. Mayberry
McAlindon
McClure
McCollum
M. McElroy
McGrew
B. McKenzie
McNair
S. Meeks
J. Moore
K. Moore
Nazarenko
Painter
Pearce
Pilkington
Puryear
Ray
Richmond
Rose
Rye
Schulz
R. Scott Richardson
M. Shepherd
Steimel
Torres
Tosh
Underwood
Unger
Walker
Wing
Wooldridge
Wooten
Speaker Evans

The Following Representatives Voted Against H.B. 1615

F. Allen
Barnett
Clowney
A. Collins
Ennett
D. Garner
Gonzales
Hudson
Magie
McCullough
McGruder
J. Richardson
T. Shephard
Springer
Steele
Wardlaw
Gonzales Worthen

The Following Representatives Voted “Present”

Brooks
Eaton
Eaves
Eubanks
Hall
Hawk
Womack

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

Achor
Barker
Barnes
K. Ferguson
Henley
Milligan
Perry
Vaught
Warren
D. Whitaker

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

Committees Pass Measures to Strengthen Rights of Conscience, Religious Liberty in Arkansas

Apr 3, 2025Jerry CoxReligious FreedomArkansas Legislature, Conscience, Religious Freedom

This week committees in the Arkansas House of Representatives backed two good bills protecting rights of conscience and the free exercise of religion.

In recent years, Arkansas has passed some of the best rights of conscience and religious freedom protections in the country.

In 2015, the state enacted its Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And lawmakers passed good bills in 2023 to further strengthen that law.

In 2021, Arkansas passed Act 462 protecting healthcare workers’ rights of conscience.

Before that law passed, Arkansas’ conscience protections were narrowly focused on abortion and end of life decisions, and they protected very few people. Act 462 helped broaden those protections and apply them to all healthcare workers.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee backed H.B. 1615 to further strengthen Arkansas’ protections concerning the free exercise of religion. This good bill by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) would ensure that religious organizations and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

H.B. 1615 will help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

On Wednesday, the Senate Public Health Committee passed S.B. 444 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Lee Johnson (R — Greenwood). This good bill improves the healthcare workers’ rights of conscience law Arkansas passed in 2021.

Among other things, S.B. 444 adds whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, and it helps protect all medical professionals from having their rights of conscience violated.

If H.B. 1615 and S.B. 444 pass this year, Arkansas law will continue to provide some of the best protections for religious liberty and medical rights of conscience in the country.

That would be something to celebrate.

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

Arkansas House Passes Good Bill Affirming Religious Liberty at Public Schools

Mar 20, 2025Jerry CoxReligious FreedomArkansas Legislature, Religious Freedom

On Wednesday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed S.B. 223, the Religious Rights at Public Schools Act of 2025.

This good bill by Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) affirms public school students’ and teachers’ religious liberties.

The bill identifies and upholds religious freedoms that are already protected by state and federal law — such as the right to pray, discuss religion, or read the Bible during free time at school.

The bill also helps make sure that religious expression is treated equally to other types of speech at school.

This will help prevent schools from squelching anyone’s religious liberties.

When it comes to religious liberty, public schools have been a battleground for more than 60 years. It’s important that we stand up for religious freedom at school. S.B. 223 is a good bill that helps do exactly that.

The bill now goes to the governor to be signed into law.