Sen. Rapert, Rep. Bentley File Texas-Style Pro-Life Measure in Arkansas

Sen. Rapert, left, filed a Texas-style pro-life law at the Arkansas Legislature on Tuesday.

On Tuesday Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) filed S.B. 13, the Arkansas Human Heartbeat and Human Life Civil Justice Act.

The bill enacts pro-life legislation in Arkansas that is very similar to the heartbeat law that Texas passed earlier this year.

Texas’ pro-life law has generally stopped abortion in that state.

S.B. 13 prohibits abortion in Arkansas, except to save the life of the mother.

If passed, the bill would let any Arkansas resident file a lawsuit against anyone who performs an abortion or who directly aids or abets an abortion.

News articles indicate that since abortion facilities in Texas closed, a growing number of women have travelled to Arkansas for abortions. Without S.B. 13, Arkansas could see more women cross state lines for abortions.

S.B. 13 is a good bill that will prevent abortion in Arkansas.

You Can Read S.B. 13 Here.

Arkansas Tops List of States With Pro-Life Victories in 2021: AUL Report

On Monday one of the nation’s leading pro-life organizations, Americans United for Life, released its 2021 report on state legislative sessions.

The report highlighted pro-life victories and setbacks at state legislatures across the country.

The report indicated that Arkansas passed 15 measures this year protecting unborn children — more than any other state.

The measures listed in AUL’s report were:

HB 1116 “Simon’s Law” outlining parental consent with regards to end-of-life decisions for minors

HB 1195 “Every Mom Matters Act” which creates a phone program for support services

HB 1402 amending the “abortion-inducing drugs safety act” to require a physician examine the woman to confirm pregnancy, provide RhoGAM if necessary, and schedule a follow up with the woman to ensure the pregnancy is terminated

HB 1544 affirming the right of cities to declare themselves “pro-life cities”

HB 1572 “Informed Consent for Chemical Abortion Act” requiring informed consent 72 hours before the abortion, including risks and complications, information on post-abortion care and Rhincompatibility, and literature on human trafficking. The bill also updates reporting requirements to include information on chemical abortion

HB 1589 prohibiting the use of taxpayer resource transactions for abortions

HB 1592 prohibiting public schools from contracting with any entity that provides abortions

SB 6 “Unborn Child Protection Act” abolishing abortion in the state

SB 85 “Right to Know and See Act” amending the right to view ultrasound

SB 152 amending the authority of PA’s, but prohibiting the delegated authority to perform an abortion

SB 289 “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act” expanding healthcare rights of conscience

SB 388 requiring that all clinics, health centers, and facilities that do ANY abortions be licensed by the state, and prohibiting abortions in a hospital except to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency

SB 463 collecting data on abortions done for rape/incest and sending all abortion data collected under state law to the CDC and making it publicly available

SB 474 creating the criminal offense of fertility fraud

SB 527 requiring abortion facilities to post information about sex trafficking; mandating that abortion facilities enter into a written agreement with a licensed acute care hospital and ambulance service to provide complication management/emergency transfer

The Arkansas Legislature passed a record number of pro-life laws this year — and many other excellent measures as well.

Arkansans should be proud of their elected officials. The General Assembly passed and Governor Hutchinson signed some of the best laws in the country this year. Arkansas has become a true leader in America when it comes to passing good, conservative legislation. These new laws are proof of that.

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

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.