ARSB289 has passed the Arkansas Senate and been sent to the House. This bill would allow healthcare providers to refuse life-saving medical treatment on religious, moral, or ethical grounds. You can read the text of #ARSB289 here.

When the previous federal administration attempted to implement rules similar to this bill, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Emergency Physicians filed a brief that said,

“The Rule would allow individuals to refuse medically appropriate care even when their refusal jeopardizes another’s life. The Rule endangers patients in every conceivable context—from infancy through end-of-life, in rural clinics and urban hospitals, from preventative care to life-or-death emergencies. For already-vulnerable populations in need of critical care, the Rule promises to be especially devastating, perpetuating racial and socioeconomic inequalities.”

(CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO v. ALEX M. AZAR II, Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020)

ARSB289 will now go to the Public Health, Welfare & Labor Committee in the Arkansas House.

We can stop this bill in the House committee. Email the members of the House Public Health, Welfare & Labor Committee and tell them to vote NO on SB289. One person’s convictions can’t be used to deny a patient—a person—medical care.

• Jack Ladyman (Chair) – jackladyman@gmail.com
• Deborah Ferguson (Vice Chair) – deborah.ferguson@arkansashouse.org
• Fred Allen – fredallen99@comcast.net
• Mary Bentley – mary.bentley@arkansashouse.org
• Justin Boyd – justin.boyd.pharm.d@gmail.com
• Joe Cloud – joe.cloud@arkansashouse.org
• Bruce Coleman – bruce.coleman@arkansashouse.org
• Marsh Davis – marsh.davis@arkansashouse.org
• Jim Dotson – jim.dotson@arkansashouse.org
• Jon S. Eubanks – Jon.Eubanks@arkansashouse.org
• Justin Gonzales – justinrory@yahoo.com
• Michelle Gray – michelle.gray@arkansashouse.org
• Stephen Magie – stephen.magie@arkansashouse.org
• Josh Miller – josh.miller@arkansashouse.org
• John Payton – john.payton@arkansashouse.org
• Clint Penzo – clint.penzo@arkansashouse.org
• Mark Perry – mperry@windstream.net
• Aaron Pilkington – aaron.pilkington@arkansashouse.org
• Jeff Wardlaw – jeff@jeffwardlaw.com
• Carlton Wing – carlton@carltonwing.com

Sources: https://www.ama-assn.org/health-care-advocacy/judicial-advocacy/why-hhs-conscience-rights-rule-was-blocked-court, https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2021/SB289/