Committee Passes Good Bill Concerning Pro-Life Cities, Counties in Arkansas

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On Tuesday the Senate City, County, and Local Affairs Committee passed a bill to help expand Pro-Life political subdivisions in Arkansas.

S.B. 446 by Sen. Joshua Bryant (R – Rogers) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R – Cave Springs) builds on Arkansas’ law that lets cities and counties pass Pro-Life resolutions.

Act 392 of 2021 affirms that cities and counties can designate themselves as Pro-Life. To date, nearly half of all Arkansans live in a Pro-Life City or Pro-Life County.

S.B. 446 expands this 2021 law so that any political subdivision of the state can declare itself to be Pro-Life — not just a city or a county.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade and abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas, citizens and their elected officials need to establish exactly where they stand when it comes to protecting innocent human life.

S.B. 446 is a good bill that will help communities do exactly that. The bill now goes to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.

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Senate Public Health Committee Advances Good Bills

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On Monday the Senate Public Health Committee advanced two good bills.

The first was S.B. 452 by Sen. Ben Gilmore (R – Crossett) and Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton).

The bill amends the legislative declarations in the Arkansas Family Planning Act of 1973. It deletes legislative findings in state law that claim, “Continuing population growth either causes or aggravates many social, economic, and environmental problems, both in this state and in the nation,” and that “[c]ontraceptive procedures, supplies, and information as to and procedures for voluntary sterilization are not sufficiently available as a practical matter to many persons in this state.”

The second was S.B. 463 — also by Sen. Ben Gilmore (R – Crossett) and Rep. Mindy McAlindon (R – Centerton) — clarifying that the State Medical Board will revoke the license of a physician that violates Arkansas’ laws against abortion-inducing drugs.

Both bills now go to the Arkansas Senate for consideration.

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Legislation Would Help Keep Pro-Abortion Groups Out of Public Schools

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Above: An overview of sex-education curriculum Planned Parenthood offered to Arkansas’ public schools in the past.

A measure filed at the Arkansas Legislature on Thursday would help keep pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood out of Arkansas’ public schools.

S.B. 466 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R – Bentonville) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) says that a public school or open-enrollment public charter school shall not knowingly enter into any type of transaction with an individual or entity that offers or provides abortion referrals.

Current law prohibits schools from contracting with abortion providers, but it does not address organizations that refer women to abortionists.

Now that abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood are referring women to abortion providers in other states.

In the past, Planned Parenthood has been very active in Arkansas’ public schools, and lawmakers have adopted legislation to keep them out of the classroom.

S.B. 466 will help continue to keep pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood away from Arkansas’ public school students.

You Can Read S.B. 466 Here.

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