Planned Parenthood Announces It Will Fight Any Texas-Style “Heartbeat” Legislation in Arkansas

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Above: Planned Parenthood’s chemical abortion facility in Little Rock.

According to the Arkansas Times, this week Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes announced it will strongly oppose any effort to introduce a pro-life heartbeat law at the Arkansas Legislature like the one recently enacted in Texas.

The Texas law generally prohibits abortion after an unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected. As a result of the law, abortion facilities in Texas have been closed for the past several weeks.

If Arkansas does not pass a Texas-style heartbeat law, then we could see more women travel to Little Rock from out-of-state for abortions — much like we did during the COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020.

Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) has indicated that he hopes to introduce a Texas-style heartbeat law during an upcoming special session of the Arkansas Legislature. Sen. Rapert successfully secured passage of a heartbeat law in 2013, but the federal courts struck down most of that law.

Planned Parenthood operates two facilities in Arkansas.

The Little Rock facility performs drug-induced abortions that poison unborn children in the womb. Planned Parenthood recently opened a center in Rogers, and has said it hopes that location will be licensed to perform abortions by the end of this year.

Planned Parenthood’s strategy for opposing a Texas-style heartbeat measure in Arkansas appears to be threefold:

  1. Launching an aggressive statewide campaign to defeat any Texas-style heartbeat law in Arkansas.
  2. Communicating with more than 20,000 Arkansans about the legislation.
  3. Hosting events across the state to oppose the legislation.

Planned Parenthood’s statement indicates it has hired additional staff to carry out its agenda in Arkansas.

Planned Parenthood almost certainly faces an uphill battle when it comes to opposing pro-life legislation in Arkansas.

This year the state legislature passed more pro-life laws than any other state in America — including a law that prohibits virtually all abortions in Arkansas — despite opposition from Planned Parenthood and others. These new laws could save thousands of women and unborn children from abortion for years to come.

Public opinion polling shows Arkansans are overwhelmingly pro-life, and most believe abortion ought to be either completely illegal or legal only under certain circumstances.

Arkansas’ abortion numbers have been in decline since the 1990s. In fact, as of last year the number of abortions performed annually in Arkansas remains near historic lows.

Slowly but surely Arkansans are winning the fight to end abortion.

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Legislature Passes Measures Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

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On Wednesday the Arkansas Senate passed H.B. 1977 by Rep. Joshua Bryant and Sen. Bob Ballinger, and the Arkansas House passed S.B. 739 by Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Joshua Bryant.

The two bills are virtually identical.

Both of them require employers to provide certain exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Under these measures, if an employer mandates COVID-19 vaccines, employees who decline to receive the vaccine could instead provide a negative COVID test to their employer on a regular basis or provide proof of natural immunity from a healthcare provider.

You can read H.B. 1977 here.

You can read S.B. 739 here.

Both bills have passed in the entire Arkansas Legislature. The next step is for one or both of them to go to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

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Arkansas House Considers Bills Addressing Vaccine Mandates

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Sen. Johnson presents S.B. 732 in committee.

On Tuesday the House Public Health Committee and the Arkansas House of Representatives considered different pieces of legislation addressing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

On Tuesday morning, the House Public Health Committee failed to pass S.B. 732 by Sen. Blake Johnson.

S.B. 732 prohibits coercing another person into receiving a COVID-19 vaccine if the person has a religious, philosophical, or medical objection to the vaccine. The bill is similar to current Arkansas law regarding immunization mandates and exemptions for students.

The bill previously passed the Arkansas Senate, but failed to pass the House Public Health Committee on Tuesday. You Can Read S.B. 732 Here.

The House Public Health Committee passed S.B. 739 by Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Joshua Bryant.

S.B. 739 requires employers to provide certain exemptions for employees who decline to utilize a COVID-19 vaccine. You Can Read The Bill Here.

S.B. 739 previously passed the Arkansas Senate. It now goes to the entire House of Representatives for consideration.

On Tuesday, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed H.B. 1977 by Rep. Joshua Bryant and Sen. Bob Ballinger.

H.B. 1977 passed the House Public Health Committee last week. The bill is virtually identical to S.B. 739.

H.B. 1977 requires employers to provide certain exemptions for employees who decline to utilize a COVID-19 vaccine. You Can Read H.B. 1977 Here. You Can See How Your State Representative Voted on H.B. 1977 Here.

H.B. 1977 now goes to the Arkansas Senate, where it likely will be referred to the Senate Public Health Committee.

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