State Could Begin Accepting Grant Applications from Pregnancy Centers Next Month

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The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration recently announced it expects applications for the 2023 Pregnancy Help Organizations Grant Program to open next month.

In April, Gov. Sanders signed Act 622 of 2023 authorizing $1 million in state-funded grants for crisis pregnancy centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and social services agencies that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.

Under Act 622, the Department of Finance and Administration distributes this grant funding to eligible organizations that provide women and families with alternatives to abortion. In a recent announcement, the agency wrote,

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) will be seeking applications for funding from organizations eligible to apply under the Pregnancy Help Organizations (PHOs) Grant Program.  This grant program was established for the purpose of encouraging females facing unwanted pregnancy to give birth to their unborn child. DFA is the designated state entity to administer the PHO Grant Program in accordance with Act 622 of 2023. Pregnancy Resource Center Grant | Department of Finance and Administration (Arkansas.gov).

Once preliminary procedures are completed in accordance with state law, DFA will open the Request for Applications. 

The anticipated opening date is mid October.  Announcements will be posted on our website at the link above. 

Since the 2022 Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, state legislatures around the country have ramped up state funding for pregnancy help organizations.

For example, Ohio recently raised its state budget for pregnancy resource centers to $14 million per biennium.

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

The Texas Legislature budgets $50 million per year to its abortion alternatives program.

And Kansas — where some 405 women from Arkansas had abortions in 2022 — will provide $2 million to pregnancy centers in the coming months.

In June the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration finished awarding $1 million in grant funds to pregnancy help organizations as part of the 2022-2023 budget cycle. Now the state is preparing to award another million dollars by June 30, 2024. This grant funding will support women with unplanned pregnancies and help build a culture of life in Arkansas. That’s something to celebrate.

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

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Memorial Service for Aborted Children Sept. 9 at Life Center in Little Rock

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The following is a press release from Arkansas Right to Life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 6, 2023

LITTLE ROCK – The National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children service is Saturday, Sept. 9 from 11:30 a.m. to Noon at the Memorial Garden for the Unborn at 1515 S. University Avenue in Little Rock. Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock, Rev. Marvin Barham, pastor of Jubilee Church, Maumelle, and speaker Donna Ezell of Arkansas Pregnancy Resource Center of Little Rock, will participate. All are welcome. The event is sponsored by Arkansas Right to Life. For more information call 501-663-4237 or email communications@artl.org. Additional information about the event is available at https://nationaldayofremembrance.org.

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 Arkansas Right to Life is the state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, the oldest and largest pro-life organization. For more information visit https://artl.org/.

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Columbia County Passes Pro-Life Resolution

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On August 14 the Columbia County Quorum Court passed a resolution declaring itself a Pro-Life County.

In 2021 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 392 affirming that cities and counties can designate themselves as Pro-Life.

This year lawmakers passed Act 699 by Sen. Joshua Bryant (R – Rogers) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R – Cave Springs) expanding the law and letting other political subdivisions of the state pass Pro-Life resolutions as well. 

To date, nearly half of all Arkansans live in a Pro-Life City or Pro-Life County.

Columbia County’s Pro-Life Resolution says,

WHEREAS, Ark. Code Ann. §14-1-108 (Act 699 of 2023, enacted April 11, 2023, effective August 1, 2023) provides, in part, that a county by resolution may state the policy of the county to be Pro-Life; and

WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including the right to life; and

WHEREAS, the Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 68, states that the policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth; and

WHEREAS, it is the duty of state and local government to protect the unalienable right to life of every person within their respective jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a preference for normal childbirth rather than abortion.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE QUORUM COURT OF THE COUNTY OF COLUMBIA, STATE OF ARKANSAS:

SECTION 1. That the policy of Columbia County is to promote and protect the dignity and humanity of all persons at all stages of life from conception until natural death.

SECTION 2. That Columbia County is to be known as a “Pro-Life County”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade means state and local governments are now completely free to affirm that they support life.

More than ever, citizens and their elected officials need to establish exactly where they stand on the issue of abortion.

It’s good to see citizens in Columbia County taking a firm stand for the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

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