Activities
Arkansas Right To Life…Taking A Stand, Making A Difference
Arkansas Right to Life is a non-profit, grassroots, public service organization dedicated to protecting and fostering the most basic right of society – LIFE itself. Today, as anti-life forces are attacking this right with increasing intensity, we promote, uphold and support reverence and respect for human life without regard to condition, quality, age, race, religion, culture or color, whether born or unborn.
We recognize that society today places great emphasis on the quality of life, but we must not let our concern for quality override our concern for life itself.
Arkansas Right to Life is affiliated with the National Right to Life committee. NRLC is the nation’s largest grassroots, pro-life organization with 50 state affiliates and over 3,000 chapters nationwide.
Touching Hearts – Changing Minds – Saving Lives
Educational Awareness
We seek to educate the community to the dangers of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and other actions that destroy innocent human life. Through educational programs at schools, churches, community events and civic organizations, we are reaching thousands of Arkansans with our life-affirming message.
Each year since 1977, Arkansas Right to Life has sponsored a pro-life educational exhibit at the Arkansas State Fair. Several thousand people visit the booth each year, making this one of our largest educational events. The booth is open for over 100 hours during the ten-day fair and involves approximately 100 volunteers.
Since 1978, Arkansas Right to Life has sponsored the Annual March for Life in Little Rock, to commemorate the January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision that legalized abortion. This is the largest pro-life gathering in Arkansas and attracts thousands people from all over the state.
Legislation and Lobbying
Arkansas Right to Life lobbies at the Arkansas legislature to promote bills which will create a favorable climate for life. ARTL also lobbies at the nation’s capital for laws which will guarantee legal protection for all human beings.
Political Action
The Arkansas Right to Life Political Action Committee (State & Federal) seeks to elect candidates to public office that respect the sanctity of human life. Arkansas Right to Life Political Action Committee is a non-partisan PAC and its funds are separate from Arkansas Right to Life.
In 1988 – Arkansas Right to Life worked with a coalition of groups for a petition drive to adopt Amendment 68, “The Unborn Child Amendment,” to the Arkansas State Constitution. The amendment states that “the policy of Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth, to the extent permitted by the federal constitution.”
In 1989 – Arkansas Right to Life worked for passage of The Parental Notification Law requiring that no abortion be performed on an unemancipated minor until 48 hours after written notice has been given to at least one parent.
In 1997 – Arkansas Right to Life led the battle for the successful passage of Act 984 the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which prohibited the partial-birth abortion procedure in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother. The day before the ban was to take effect a lawsuit was filed and subsequently the ban was declared unconstitutional.
In 1998 – Arkansas Right to Life was the leading force of opposition calling for the North Little Rock City Council to rescind their approval of a $20,000 Federal Block Grant to Planned Parenthood of Arkansas & Eastern Oklahoma for the establishment of a Reproductive Health Clinic in their city. The council rescinded the grant and the clinic did not open.
In 1999 – Arkansas Right to Life worked with Governor Huckabee to win passage of Act 1273 the Fetal Protection Act that will ensure that unborn children 12 weeks and older will be considered legal “persons” when killed or injured during a criminal or negligent act. This is a significant victory for the pro-life movement and restores protection to the unborn that was taken away from them in 1975 when the state legislature repealed a 1964 statute against the murder of an unborn child. Arkansas Right to Life also supported Act 394 The Physician Assisted Suicide Ban.
In 2001 – Arkansas Right to Life was successful in passing Act 353 the Woman’s Right to Know Law to ensure that women be given information about the risks of abortion and were offered information about fetal development and alternatives to abortion before an abortion can be performed. The pro-life movement in Arkansas had worked for 10 years to get this critical legislation passed so that women would be better informed before making the life and death decision of abortion. Arkansas Right to Life also supported Act 236 The Safe Haven that allows a mother to surrender an unwanted infant without fear of criminal charges.
In 2003 – Arkansas Right to Life sponsored passage of Act 344 to establish a Choose Life specialty vehicle license plate to generate funds to promote and assist women to choose adoption. This legislation was included in Governor Mike Huckabee’s legislative package. In addition we worked to pass Act 1189 to give women seeking an abortion the option to view the ultrasound image of their child if one is performed. Arkansas Right to Life also supported Act 607 the Human Cloning Ban and Act 1322 The Right to Receive Nutrition & Hydration.
In 2005 – Arkansas Right to Life sponsored Act 1696 the Unborn Child Pain & Prevention Act that provides pregnant women, who are 20 weeks or more and seeking an abortion, pain information and the option of pain relief medication for the unborn child. We also supported Act 537 the Parental Consent for Minor Abortion.
In 2007 – Arkansas Right to Life successfully worked to defeat the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in Arkansas and supported Act1605 to prevent coerced abortion.
In 2008 – Arkansas Right to Life helped to alert and educate citizens of Hot Springs of the activities of Planned Parenthood CHOICE Hot Springs to establish abortion services.
In 2009 – Arkansas Right to Life successfully sponsored Act 196 the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban.
In 2011 – Arkansas Right to Life sponsored the only pro-life law passed in the AR General Assembly: The Requirement of all facilities that perform ten or more abortions each month to be inspected and licensed by the Department of Health. This law closed a loophole and forced Planned Parenthood to be inspected and licensed as an abortion provider.
In 2013 – Arkansas Right to Life made passage of the Opt Out of Abortion Coverage in the Affordable Care Act (OBAMACARE), and passage of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to prevent abortion on unborn children 20 weeks or more legislative priorities. We also welcomed the passage of the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act to prevent abortion at 12 weeks or more (currently enjoined), passage of an act to modify the definition of an unborn child, passage of the Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act, and passage of the Child Maltreatment Act that protects life in Arkansas.
In 2015 – Arkansas Right to Life led a successful educational and legislative effort to ban Webcam Abortion in Arkansas. This effort defeated the plans of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from providing chemical abortion across Arkansas by a webcam Internet connection. We also supported the Right to Try Act, an act to defund Pro-abortion entities, the Abortion Inducing Drugs Safety Act, the Disposition of Human & Fetal Tissue Act, the Parental Involvement Act and the Woman’s Right to Know Act.
In 2017 – Arkansas Right to Life top priority was the passage of Act 45 the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion signed into law by Governor Asa Hutchinson on January 26, 2017. This will effectively end the barbaric yet common 2nd trimester abortion method that dismembers a living unborn child to death.
In 2019 – Arkansas Right to Life worked to amend the Safe Haven Act (Act 185 of 2019) to add manned Fire Stations as surrender locations and to authorize installation of Safe Haven Baby Boxes at surrender locations and to amend the Woman’s Right to Know Act (Act 522 of 2019) to require Abortion Pill Reversal information be given to women undergoing chemical/medication abortion in Arkansas. We also worked against legislation to legalized assisted suicide and the ERA. We supported legislation that banned abortions at 18 weeks and for down syndrome diagnosis, increased the reflection period for abortion decisions from 48 to 72 hours, to require abortion providers to be OB-GYN certified and to ban abortion in AR when Roe v. Wade is overturned.
WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. WE ARE ARKANSAS RIGHT TO LIFE