New Law Taking Effect Will Provide Adoption Education for Public School Students in Arkansas

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A new law taking effect this week will help provide public school students with education regarding adoption.

Act 637 of 2023 by Sen. David Wallace (R — Leachville) and Rep. Joey Carr (R — Blytheville) requires public schools to provide one hour of education regarding adoption awareness to students in grades 6-12 at the beginning of each school year.

This will help educate students about adoption and foster care in Arkansas.

According to Act 637, the adoption education must cover the following topics:

  • The benefits of adoption to society
  • The types of adoption available
  • The difference between adoption through the foster care system and private adoption
  • The reasons adoption is preferable to abortion
  • Public and private resources and agencies available to assist in the adoption process
  • Statistical data on abortion, adoption, and childbirth
  • Public and private resources available for pregnant mothers and parents enrolled in a public school
  • A description of child and human development.

The law requires the State Board of Education to develop “curricula, standards, materials, and units” to teach students about adoption.

Promoting adoption and foster care is good for children and families, and it is one way that Arkansans can reduce the demand for abortion.

Act 637 of 2023 is a good law that will help do exactly that.

Arkansas Right to Life was the lead pro-life proponent of this law during the 2023 legislative session, and Family Council was proud to support their efforts.

Now that Act 637 is taking effect, we look forward to the State Board of Education and the various public schools around the state implementing this good law in the coming school year.

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States Bolster Funding for Pro-Life Pregnancy Resource Centers

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Since the 2022 Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, state legislatures around the country have bolstered state funding for pregnancy help organizations that provide women with alternatives to abortion.

For years, pro-life states have provided publicly funded grants and subsidies for pregnancy resource centers that help women with unplanned pregnancies. Those efforts have accelerated in recent months.

In Ohio, lawmakers raised the state’s biannual budget for pregnancy resource centers this year from $6 million to $14 million.

In Tennessee this year, legislators appropriated $20 million for pro-life organizations that provide alternatives to abortion. Florida’s state budget allocates $30 million pregnancy help organizations.

Texas offers $100 million per biennium for its abortion alternatives program.

Kansas — where some 405 women from Arkansas had abortions in 2022 — will provide $2 million in funding for pregnancy centers during the coming budget cycle.

This year the Arkansas Legislature voted to provide $1 million in grant funding for pregnancy help organizations that offer women and families alternatives to abortion.

Many of these organizations provide everything from ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to maternity clothes and adoption referrals — typically free of charge. They often operate on very tight budgets and rely heavily on volunteers and donations.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed and Arkansas has prohibited abortion except to save the life of the mother, we need to step up and help women with unplanned pregnancies.

Providing grant funding for pregnancy help organizations is part of our long term strategy to reduce the demand for abortion in Arkansas.

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