Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 446 3
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By: Senator J. Bryant 5
By: Representative Underwood 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE P RO-LIFE 9
DESIGNATION OF POLIT ICAL SUBDIVISIONS; T O ALLOW 10
MUNICIPALITIES, COUN TIES, AND OTHER POLI TICAL 11
SUBDIVISIONS TO STAT E BY RESOLUTION THAT THEY HAVE A 12
PRO-LIFE POLICY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
TO ALLOW MUNICIPALITIES, COUNTIES, AND 17
OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS TO STATE BY 18
RESOLUTION THAT THEY HAVE A PRO -LIFE 19
POLICY. 20
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, is amended 25
to add an additional section to read as follows: 26
14-1-108. Pro-Life City, Pro-Life County, or Pro-Life Political 27
Subdivision designation. 28
(a) A municipality, county, or other political subdivision may state 29
by resolution: 30
(1) That the policy of the municipality, county, or political 31
subdivision is to promote and protect the dignity and humanity of all persons 32
at all stages of life from conception until natural death; 33
(2) That the municipality, county, or political subdivision is 34
to be known as a “Pro-Life City”, a "Pro-Life County", or a "Pro -Life 35
Political Subdivision"; and 36 SB446
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(3) The following findings: 1
(A) The Declaration of Independence declares that all men 2
are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 3
unalienable rights, including the right to life; 4
(B) Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 68, states that the 5
policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from 6
conception until birth; 7
(C) It is the duty of state and local government to 8
protect the unalienable right to life of every person within each respective 9
jurisdiction; 10
(D) The United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. 11
Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not 12
prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a 13
preference for childbirth rather than abortion; and 14
(E) The United States Supreme Court found in Dobbs v. 15
Jackson Women's Health Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), that the United 16
States Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. 17
(b) A municipality, county, or other political subdivision that passes 18
a resolution under subsection (a) of this section may promote the Pro -Life 19
City, Pro-Life County, or Pro-Life Political Subdivision status in a manner 20
consistent with other law, including without limitation by: 21
(1) Placing signs along rights -of-way near the boundaries of the 22
municipality, county, or political subdivision; 23
(2) Advertising in any promotion, advertisement, or public 24
relations effort; 25
(3) Placing signs or banners on municipal, county, or political 26
subdivision property; 27
(4) Placing a slogan or other notation on utility billing or 28
other communications to municipal, county, or political subdivision 29
residents; 30
(5) Producing and distrib uting signs, decals, or other material 31
for businesses or residents to voluntarily use and display; 32
(6) Promoting at festivals, parades, or other public events; 33
(7) Urging municipal, county, or political subdivision employees 34
to develop and implement innovative and creative ways for promotion; 35
(8) Placing a slogan or other notation on publicly owned 36 SB446
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vehicles; 1
(9) Declaring pro-life observances, such as a pro -life day or 2
pro-life month; 3
(10) Encouraging local schools and civic clubs to promote the 4
dignity of innocent human life; 5
(11) Encouraging local places of worship to promote the sanctity 6
of innocent human life; 7
(12) Erecting monuments or other permanent memorials to lives 8
lost to abortion; 9
(13) Establishing a cemetery or other plac e for the dignified 10
burial of the unborn and for memorials to those who have died in an abortion; 11
and 12
(14) Using public service announcements. 13
14
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 14 -54-805 is repealed. 15
14-54-805. Pro-Life City designation. 16
(a) A municipality may state by resolution: 17
(1) That the policy of the municipality is to promote and 18
protect the dignity and humanity of all persons at all stages of life from 19
conception until natural death; 20
(2) That the municipality is to be known as a “Pro -Life City”; 21
and 22
(3) The following findings: 23
(A) The Declaration of Independence declares that all men 24
are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 25
unalienable rights, including the right to life; 26
(B) Arkansas Constitutio n, Amendment 68, states that the 27
policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from 28
conception until birth; 29
(C) It is the duty of state and local government to 30
protect the unalienable right to life of every person within each respect ive 31
jurisdiction; and 32
(D) The United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. 33
Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not 34
prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a 35
preference for childbirth rather t han abortion. 36 SB446
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(b) A municipality that passes a resolution under subsection (a) of 1
this section may promote the Pro -Life City status in a manner consistent with 2
other law, including without limitation by: 3
(1) Placing signs along rights -of-way near the boundaries of the 4
municipality; 5
(2) Advertising in any promotion, advertisement, or public 6
relations effort; 7
(3) Placing signs or banners on municipal property; 8
(4) Placing a slogan or other notation on municipal utility 9
billing or other communica tions to municipal residents; 10
(5) Producing and distributing signs, decals, or other material 11
for businesses or residents to voluntarily use and display; 12
(6) Promoting at festivals, parades, or other public events; 13
(7) Urging municipal employees to develop and implement 14
innovative and creative ways for promotion; 15
(8) Placing a slogan or other notation on publicly owned 16
vehicles; 17
(9) Declaring pro-life observances, such as a pro -life day or 18
pro-life month; 19
(10) Encouraging local schools an d civic clubs to promote the 20
dignity of human life; 21
(11) Encouraging local places of worship to promote the sanctity 22
of human life; 23
(12) Erecting monuments or other permanent memorials to lives 24
lost to abortion; 25
(13) Establishing a cemetery or other place for the dignified 26
burial of the unborn and for memorials to those who have died in an abortion; 27
and 28
(14) Using public service announcements. 29
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