Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB446 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2		-	Act 699 of the Regular Session
3	2		TSA002 3/16/2023 2:31:05 PM TSA002
4	3
5	4		State of Arkansas 1
6	5		94th General Assembly A Bill 2
7	6		Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 446 3
8	7		4
9	8		By: Senator J. Bryant 5
10	9		By: Representative Underwood 6
11	10		7
12	11		For An Act To Be Entitled 8
13	12		AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE P RO-LIFE 9
14	13		DESIGNATION OF POLIT ICAL SUBDIVISIONS; T O ALLOW 10
15	14		MUNICIPALITIES, COUN TIES, AND OTHER POLI TICAL 11
16	15		SUBDIVISIONS TO STAT E BY RESOLUTION THAT THEY HAVE A 12
17	16		PRO-LIFE POLICY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
18	17		14
19	18		15
20	19		Subtitle 16
21	20		TO ALLOW MUNICIPALITIES, COUNTIES, AND 17
22	21		OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS TO STATE BY 18
23	22		RESOLUTION THAT THEY HAVE A PRO -LIFE 19
24	23		POLICY. 20
25	24		21
26	25		22
27	26		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
28	27		24
29	28		SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, is amended 25
30	29		to add an additional section to read as follows: 26
31	30		14-1-108. Pro-Life City, Pro-Life County, or Pro-Life Political 27
32	31		Subdivision designation. 28
33	32		(a) A municipality, county, or other political subdivision may state 29
34	33		by resolution: 30
35	34		(1) That the policy of the municipality, county, or political 31
36	35		subdivision is to promote and protect the dignity and humanity of all persons 32
37	36		at all stages of life from conception until natural death; 33
38	37		(2) That the municipality, county, or political subdivision is 34
39	38		to be known as a “Pro-Life City”, a "Pro-Life County", or a "Pro -Life 35
40	39		Political Subdivision"; and 36 SB446
41	40
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43	42
44	43
45	44		(3) The following findings: 1
46	45		(A) The Declaration of Independence declares that all men 2
47	46		are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 3
48	47		unalienable rights, including the right to life; 4
49	48		(B) Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 68, states that the 5
50	49		policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from 6
51	50		conception until birth; 7
52	51		(C) It is the duty of state and local government to 8
53	52		protect the unalienable right to life of every person within each respective 9
54	53		jurisdiction; 10
55	54		(D) The United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. 11
56	55		Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not 12
57	56		prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a 13
58	57		preference for childbirth rather than abortion; and 14
59	58		(E) The United States Supreme Court found in Dobbs v. 15
60	59		Jackson Women's Health Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), that the United 16
61	60		States Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. 17
62	61		(b) A municipality, county, or other political subdivision that passes 18
63	62		a resolution under subsection (a) of this section may promote the Pro -Life 19
64	63		City, Pro-Life County, or Pro-Life Political Subdivision status in a manner 20
65	64		consistent with other law, including without limitation by: 21
66	65		(1) Placing signs along rights -of-way near the boundaries of the 22
67	66		municipality, county, or political subdivision; 23
68	67		(2) Advertising in any promotion, advertisement, or public 24
69	68		relations effort; 25
70	69		(3) Placing signs or banners on municipal, county, or political 26
71	70		subdivision property; 27
72	71		(4) Placing a slogan or other notation on utility billing or 28
73	72		other communications to municipal, county, or political subdivision 29
74	73		residents; 30
75	74		(5) Producing and distrib uting signs, decals, or other material 31
76	75		for businesses or residents to voluntarily use and display; 32
77	76		(6) Promoting at festivals, parades, or other public events; 33
78	77		(7) Urging municipal, county, or political subdivision employees 34
79	78		to develop and implement innovative and creative ways for promotion; 35
80	79		(8) Placing a slogan or other notation on publicly owned 36 SB446
81	80
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83	82
84	83
85	84		vehicles; 1
86	85		(9) Declaring pro-life observances, such as a pro -life day or 2
87	86		pro-life month; 3
88	87		(10) Encouraging local schools and civic clubs to promote the 4
89	88		dignity of innocent human life; 5
90	89		(11) Encouraging local places of worship to promote the sanctity 6
91	90		of innocent human life; 7
92	91		(12) Erecting monuments or other permanent memorials to lives 8
93	92		lost to abortion; 9
94	93		(13) Establishing a cemetery or other plac e for the dignified 10
95	94		burial of the unborn and for memorials to those who have died in an abortion; 11
96	95		and 12
97	96		(14) Using public service announcements. 13
98	97		14
99	98		SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 14 -54-805 is repealed. 15
100	99		14-54-805. Pro-Life City designation. 16
101	100		(a) A municipality may state by resolution: 17
102	101		(1) That the policy of the municipality is to promote and 18
103	102		protect the dignity and humanity of all persons at all stages of life from 19
104	103		conception until natural death; 20
105	104		(2) That the municipality is to be known as a “Pro -Life City”; 21
106	105		and 22
107	106		(3) The following findings: 23
108	107		(A) The Declaration of Independence declares that all men 24
109	108		are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 25
110	109		unalienable rights, including the right to life; 26
111	110		(B) Arkansas Constitutio n, Amendment 68, states that the 27
112	111		policy of the state is to protect the life of every unborn child from 28
113	112		conception until birth; 29
114	113		(C) It is the duty of state and local government to 30
115	114		protect the unalienable right to life of every person within each respect ive 31
116	115		jurisdiction; and 32
117	116		(D) The United States Supreme Court found in Poelker v. 33
118	117		Doe, 432 U.S. 519 (1977), that the United States Constitution does not 34
119	118		prohibit a municipality using democratic processes from expressing a 35
120	119		preference for childbirth rather t han abortion. 36 SB446
121	120
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123	122
124	123
125	124		(b) A municipality that passes a resolution under subsection (a) of 1
126	125		this section may promote the Pro -Life City status in a manner consistent with 2
127	126		other law, including without limitation by: 3
128	127		(1) Placing signs along rights -of-way near the boundaries of the 4
129	128		municipality; 5
130	129		(2) Advertising in any promotion, advertisement, or public 6
131	130		relations effort; 7
132	131		(3) Placing signs or banners on municipal property; 8
133	132		(4) Placing a slogan or other notation on municipal utility 9
134	133		billing or other communica tions to municipal residents; 10
135	134		(5) Producing and distributing signs, decals, or other material 11
136	135		for businesses or residents to voluntarily use and display; 12
137	136		(6) Promoting at festivals, parades, or other public events; 13
138	137		(7) Urging municipal employees to develop and implement 14
139	138		innovative and creative ways for promotion; 15
140	139		(8) Placing a slogan or other notation on publicly owned 16
141	140		vehicles; 17
142	141		(9) Declaring pro-life observances, such as a pro -life day or 18
143	142		pro-life month; 19
144	143		(10) Encouraging local schools an d civic clubs to promote the 20
145	144		dignity of human life; 21
146	145		(11) Encouraging local places of worship to promote the sanctity 22
147	146		of human life; 23
148	147		(12) Erecting monuments or other permanent memorials to lives 24
149	148		lost to abortion; 25
150	149		(13) Establishing a cemetery or other place for the dignified 26
151	150		burial of the unborn and for memorials to those who have died in an abortion; 27
152	151		and 28
153	152		(14) Using public service announcements. 29
154	153		30
155	154		31
156		-	~~APPROVED: 4/11/23~~ 32
	155	+	32
157	156		33
158	157		34
159	158		35
160	159		36