null / roibu / Shutterstock.Denver, Colo., Nov 14, 2022 / 15:29 pm (CNA).An Arkansas ballot measure to put strong religious freedom protections into the state constitution was narrowly defeated on Election Day.As of Friday, 50.43% of voters rejected Issue 3, the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment. The 439,003 votes against Issue 3 outnumbered votes in favor by only 7,500.The proposed constitutional amendment would have barred government interference with an individual s religious freedom "except in the rare circumstance that the government demonstrates that application of the burden to the person is in furtherance of a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling government interest."The Arkansas Legislature passed a 2015 bill similar to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which sought to restore religious freedom protections weakened by various U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Issue 3 would have placed thes
null / roibu / Shutterstock.
Denver, Colo., Nov 14, 2022 / 15:29 pm (CNA).
An Arkansas ballot measure to put strong religious freedom protections into the state constitution was narrowly defeated on Election Day.As of Friday, 50.43% of voters r.
<p><span><img width="350" height="219" src="/media/17259664/unlocking-church-doors 350x219.jpg" alt="Unlocking church doors" class="ImageFloatLeft"/>The Natural State is seeking to ensure that churches and other religious organizations are allowed to remain open during a state of emergency and on the same terms as businesses and other secular services. </span></p>
Credit Daniel Breen / KUAR News
Arkansas is the most pro-life state in the nation according to a national anti-abortion advocacy group.
The designation comes from the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Life, which ranks each state based on laws and policies aimed at restricting access to the procedure.
Speaking in a news conference at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Americans United for Life president and CEO Catherine Glenn Foster said states have more leeway to restrict the procedure as federal courts tilt more conservative. We have seen with the elevation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett that we now have a solid pro-life majority on the United States Supreme Court. And that means that state lawmakers across America, and led by Arkansas, will have the chance to pass meaningful community protections for the pre-born and their mothers that won’t be immediately struck down by activist, pro-abortion federal courts, Foster said.