family council
Arkansas House committee rejects abortion exemption for fatal prenatal conditions
An Arkansas legislative panel on Tuesday rejected a new exemption to the state’s abortion ban for cases of fetal abnormalities “incompatible with life.” Rep. Nicole Clowney (D-Fayetteville) said her House Bill 1301 would allow physicians to induce labor in rare cases when a fetus has a condition that prevents living beyond a few hours after […]
Arkansas panel OKs criminalization of using bathrooms that do not match a person’s biological sex
An Arkansas bill that opponents called the most stringent legislative attempt so far to restrict the behavior of transgender individuals passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and will be considered by the full Senate. Senate Bill 270 would make it a crime if an adult “knowingly exposes his or her sex organs to a […]
Proposed bill would require age verification on pornography websites
A Senate committee on Tuesday approved a bill to require age verification for online material that’s harmful to minors, such as pornography. Adult-oriented businesses are typically regulated with an age verification process, and that same standard must be applied to online materials, Senate Bill 66 sponsor Sen. Tyler Dees (R-Siloam Springs) told Senate Committee on […]
“Detransitioned” adults defend Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors
Two individuals who “detransitioned,” or lived as transgender but now live as their gender assigned at birth, testified in favor of the Arkansas law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors Wednesday in federal court. Plaintiffs’ attorney Aviv Halpern asked Laura Perry Smalts of Oklahoma City if she was assigned female at birth. “I was […]
After Issue 4’s failure, what’s next for recreational marijuana in Arkansas?
*This story was updated on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 12 p.m. with additional comments from the chairman of Responsible Growth Arkansas. Arkansans on Tuesday soundly rejected a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, but advocates promise an improved proposal in 2024. The state was one of five in the U.S. voting on cannabis legalization, but […]