House Committee Passes Bill to Repeal Abortion Clinic Licensing in Arkansas

Abortion, , ,

On Thursday the Arkansas House Public Health Committee passed a bill that repeals licensing requirements for abortion facilities in Arkansas law.

S.B. 138 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R – Mountain View) and Rep. Rebecca Burkes (R – Lowell) eliminates a provision in Arkansas law that says any facility that performs abortions must be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health.

At Thursday’s committee meeting, Rep. Burkes and Arkansas Department of Health liaison Matt Gilmore said the state should repeal the licensing requirement, because abortion is now prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.

Family Council staff member Luke McCoy testified against S.B. 138 in the House Public Health Committee. McCoy pointed out that Arkansas’ abortion facility licensing requirement is tied to at least 15-19 other provisions related to abortion in state code, and that repealing the licensing requirement could have unintended consequences for those good laws if abortion were once again made legal by a state or federal court decision or law.

Family Council asked lawmakers to amend the bill to clarify that the state would require abortion facilities to be licensed if abortion were ever reinstated in Arkansas. The bill was not amended to address Family Council’s concerns.

S.B. 138 now goes to the Arkansas House of Representatives for a vote.

You Can Read S.B. 138 Here.

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

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This Bad Amendment Would Create a Right to Abortion in Arkansas

Abortion, Legislation, , , ,

A proposed constitutional amendment at the Arkansas Legislature would enshrine abortion in the state constitution.

H.J.R. 1008 by Rep. Deborah Ferguson (D – West Memphis) would amend the Arkansas Constitution to recognize “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” According to the amendment, that right would include:

  • Abortion
  • Prenatal care
  • Childbirth
  • Postpartum care
  • Contraception
  • Sterilization
  • Miscarriage management
  • Infertility care

The amendment would prohibit the state from restricting abortion before the point of fetal viability, and it would limit the state’s ability to restrict abortion after fetal viability.

This is a very bad amendment, and Family Council strongly opposes it.

Arkansas’ lawmakers are strongly pro-life, and they have worked for years to enact good legislation that protects women and unborn children.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last June, and abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.

We look forward to working with our pro-life friends to defeat this bad amendment.

You Can Read H.J.R. 1008 Here.

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Pro-Lifers to Stand Trial Today for Alleged Trespassing at Little Rock Abortion Facility in 2021

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Above: A Little Rock police officer arrests a pro-lifer for trespassing outside Little Rock Family Planning Services on January 15, 2021.

Six pro-lifers are set to stand trial today in Little Rock on charges of misdemeanor trespassing at an abortion facility in 2021.

Eva Edl of South Carolina; Chet Gallagher Tennessee; Dennis Green of Virginia; Calvin Zastrow of Michigan; Emily Nurnberg of Kansas; and Heather Iddoni of Michigan face misdemeanor criminal trespassing charges for allegedly blocking the entrance to Little Rock Family Planning Services — a surgical abortion facility in Little Rock — on January 15, 2021.

Court records show the pro-lifers were convicted in February of 2022. Each was ordered to pay a $350 fine.

However, their attorney appealed the conviction, and they are scheduled to appear in court today.

In a separate case, five of the defendants also have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Tennessee for allegedly violating the Free Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

The FACE Act is a federal law generally intended to prevent people from obstructing abortion facility entrances.

A federal indictment unsealed in October of last year alleges that Gallagher, Iddoni, Zastrow, Green, and Edl blocked a Tennessee abortion facility entrance in March of 2021.

Iddoni also has been charged with violating the FACE Act in a separate federal case at an abortion facility in Washington, D.C.

If convicted in federal court, they face up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. The federal case against them is currently set to go to trial next year.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, and Little Rock Family Planning Services is shut down.

It is unclear at this point what bearing those facts might have on these cases.

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