Covid dangers are real and vaccines are safe, but anti-covid measures such as mask and vaccine mandates by government and private businesses have been too broad-brush and punitive, the state surgeon general said Tuesday.
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Republican field expands for lieutenant governor with Washington County judge
Republican field expands for lieutenant governor with Washington County judge
Joseph Wood, the Washington County judge, has joined the
Republican field for lieutenant governor, which already includes Surgeon General Gregory Bledsoe, former Republican Party chair Doyle Webb, and state Sen. Jason Rapert.
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Wood is distinguished, if that’s the word, by the smelly path by which he landed the county judge’s office, some questionable hiring practices, squelching minority Democrats on the Washington County Quorum Court and his position on the board of governance of Ecclesia College. You might have heard of the college during the federal prosecutions of a couple of former legislators and the former college president in a kickback scheme involving state money funneled to the college (and not repaid). There’s more: his announcement says Donald Trump will go down in history as one of the great
The House today voted 72-20 to approve SB 289 to allow
refusal of medical services on reasons of “conscience.”
It is aimed at protecting people who don’t want to participate, particularly, in contraception, abortion or services to gay and transgender people.
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Rep. Brandt Smith defended the bill as modeled after bills in Mississippi and Illinois and said it contained protections to avoid discrimination. That’s not true. The laws in both states are substantially different.
As Rep. Tippi McCullough pointed out in the sole speech in opposition, the Mississippi bill specifically prohibits using “conscience” to refuse service on several specific discriminatory grounds, including race, gender and sexual orientation.
DR. GREGORY BLEDSOE: His mind has changed.
The House Public Health Committee today declined to endorse SB 289 which allows a medical practitioner, healthcare institution, or health insurance payer not to participate in a healthcare service that violates their conscience.
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The vote was 8 for to 10 against, with Rep. Jim Dotson not voting and Chair Jack Ladyman abstaining.
An extensive presentation for the bill was followed by abbreviated public testimony, but it included heavyweight opposition from a former Supreme Court justice, UAMS and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.
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Testimony included support from Surgeon General Gregory Bledsoe, speaking individually, who opposed the legislation in 2017. Since then, he said, circumstances have changed. Bledsoe, a candidate for lieutenant governor, said he saw no problem needing a solution then. Now, he said, said he feared federal intervention to force providers to do procedures they oppose.