Arkansas Gov. signs bill banning abortions on babies because of race, sex, or Down Syndrome

Last week Gov. Sarah Sanders signed a good law to prohibit certain abortions if Arkansas’ pro-life laws ever change.

In Arkansas, since 2022, the law has stood resolute: abortion is forbidden, except when a mother’s life hangs in the balance. This year, the state’s legislature, with a steely determination to fortify its pro-life ramparts, passed a measure to tighten any conceivable loopholes in its already robust framework.

 
Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s seismic 2022 ruling, which cast Roe v. Wade into the dustbin of history, Arkansas had already woven a tapestry of laws—dozens of them—designed to shield the unborn. These included noble statutes that barred the termination of a child’s life merely for being the “wrong” sex or for bearing the perceived burden of Down Syndrome. “Technically, those good laws are still on the books,” and they lie in wait, ready to spring into action should a federal court ever dare to tamper with Arkansas’ near-total prohibition on abortion.

Enter S.B. 591, championed by Sen. Clint Penzo (R, obviously — Springdale) and Rep. Karilyn Brown (R — Sherwood). 

This bill, now Act 973 of 2025, delivers a clear message: should Arkansas’ pro-life laws ever be weakened or struck down, no abortion shall be permitted on the vile grounds of an unborn child’s race. It is a law that speaks to first principles, to the unyielding truth that every life is sacred, regardless of the arbitrary markers we impose.

 
The measure sailed through the Arkansas House and Senate with a mandate that brooked no dissent, and on April 22, Gov. Sanders affixed her signature, enshrining it as law. The Family Council, stalwart defenders of the cause, rightly proclaimed their pride in collaborating with legislators to see this through. 

“We appreciate lawmakers’ continued dedication to upholding the sanctity and dignity of human life,” they declared, and who could quibble with that? Gov. Sanders, in signing this “good law,” has added another laurel to Arkansas’ crown as a bastion of moral clarity.

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