Women have abortions according to Pew Reasearch Institution

if anything were to happen to them for them to need an abortion, I would want them to be able to get one. I would not want that right to be taken away. At the end of the day, the abortion would not be my choice, but having the availability for women. I want to fight for that,” Holloway said.

A popular position of those who are against abortion is that there are other options for the child instead of the mother being forced to care for them. White believes the other options should be taken instead. Even though she is ultimately against abortion, she understands why one would choose to get one.

“I completely understand where women come from with rape and everything like that, and I feel terrible about that. But I feel like men should be taught that women are not objects and that is where it should start, but that women should understand [there are more options],” White said.

Despite the legal standings of abortion, senior Emily Briones believes that abortion will continue to exist and by removing access to abortions, women are in danger of performing abortions in improper ways and ultimately harming themselves.

“[Abortion] is going to happen no matter what, so if it is not legal, it is going to be unsafe and cause way more injuries, way more problems, than if it were to be legal,” Briones said.

The abortion debate has brought up the question of whether or not men should have an opinion on the debate itself.Briones believes men should not have a say over whether abortion should be legal or not because they are not directly affected.

“They don’t even have a uterus. It is not their decision at all. I can kind of get it if they are in a relationship and decide with the girl, but if they have no part, men shouldn’t be deciding about women’s bodies, especially women they do not know,” Briones said.

Holloway similarly believes that as a man, he should not have much deciding power over whether or not a woman should have an abortion. However, he still wants to be able to debate the topic with others in order to protect and salvage the rights he believes women should have.

“At the end of the day, I don’t have a uterus, but I would also like to say, for the women I know that

Adoption and foster care are often cited as alternatives to abortion. However, in recent years, government statements have come out with rising reports of maltreatment of children in foster care. The Arkansas Department of Human Services and Division of Children and Family Services have published their 2021 state fiscal annual report, which states received maltreatment in 2021 alone. Briones recognizes these facts along with the issue of overcrowding in the foster care system, and believes that putting children in foster care as an alternative to abortion is not beneficial to the mother or the child.

“The foster system is not very good. There are way too many kids in foster care already, and we should not be just adding more into on how far along the pregnancy is.

“I do not think it is technically a baby til like six months, and the rules were already that you can not get an abortion after a certain time period when it becomes a baby, so I don’t understand [why they’d make abortion as a whole illegal],” Macchi said.

Arkansas is one of 38 states to have fetal homicide laws and in 1999 passed the Arkansas’ Fetal Protection Law—which calls for a murder charge if a baby in at least the 12 week of gestation dies as a result of a violent crime against a pregnant woman. Sophomore Guadalupe Martinez agrees that abortion itself is considered murder, but the penalties of abortion versus homicide differ greatly.

> could not afford to have a child (74%)

> relationship issues/ desire to avoid single motherhood (48%)

> indicated that a child would interfere with their education(38%) it just because women are not able to get an abortion. The mother still has to live with the fact that her baby is somewhere else in the world, while she can’t take care of it, and she also has to go through with that pregnancy for nine months,” Briones said.

Those who argue abortion should be legal believe alternatives are not necessary as an abortion, by definition from the National Library of Medicine , is a medical procedure to end a pregnancy by removing the pregnancy from the uterus, not necessary a procedure ending a “life”, however, this is often also disputed and argued over the interpretation of the definition.

Senior Ethan Macchi does not agree that the procedure is considered to be murder, especially considering the fact that many states already had laws restricting when you are able to get an abortion by depending

> concern for own health or the health of the baby being jeopordized(13%) in general.

Guttmacher Institute

Reasons for Abortions study by

“I do not [think abortion is murder]. It’s more of a emotional reason as to why I don’t think so,” Farr said. Words have power, and so when you label things like that with

“Yes, I think abortion is murder because it’s the same as killing another person, but the difference is when you abort you don’t get pressed charges on murdering someone, and if you murder a person you get pressed charges and go to prison,” Martinez said. Although many refer to abortion as murder, Farr believes that labeling abortion as murder carries a heavy implication and the term should not be tied to the abortion debate words that have a negative connotation, it pushes a lot of shame and guilt onto these women who are put into these positions where they have to make a choice.”

According to Holloway, the deciding factor over abortion should stay with the mother, and other opinions shouldn’t be considered if they are not involved, including the opinions of the government.

“I think at the end of the day, an abortion is something that somebody else shouldn’t have a deciding factor over,” Holloway said. “It should be the decision of the mother, and I really dont think it’s fair to push how you feel about abortions on to other people, especially since it is not your life that is being affected. It could really cause harm for someone that has to pursue the pregnancy.” n Monday Jan. 9, Arkansas legislators filed Senate Bill 43, which would ban “adult-oriented performances’’ in public areas. Although the bill has since been amended, opponents of the bill expressed concern that the wording of the original bill specifically targeted drag performances and the LGBTQ+ community.

The original bill classified drag as an adultoriented performance and defined drag as a performer wearing clothing or accessories opposite of their assigned sex and performing in front of an audience of two or more people.

The amended bill now designates adultoriented performances as “intended to appeal to the prurient interest,” specifying that these performances would feature things like nudity and sexual activities.

The amended bill also proposes that no adult-oriented business would be allowed on public property or admit minors for attendance. According to Representative Mary Bentley, a co-sponsor of the bill, the goal of the bill is to protect children from sexual grooming.

“There is plenty of time for adults to do what they want to do. This is about protecting children,” Bentley told KARK. “Parents are really concerned of what they consider sexual grooming of their kids, and we’re just ready to push back. Push back with the strong values, and I know that the vast majority of Arkansans feel the exact same way that I do.”

Due to the vague nature of the bill prior to the amendment, many expressed concern that it could affect more than just drag performers, claiming that it is an attack on transgender individuals and others who may not dress according to their gender identity assigned at birth.

The Arkansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a joint statement with 19 other pro-equality groups condemning the bill, claiming that “the language of SB43 would affect not only people who dress in drag, but also transgender people who dress according to their gender identity.”

According to senior Nyla Danzy, if the bill became law, it could affect transgender students doing activities such as performing at school events or doing karaoke.

“We are a huge school and if anyone considered something performing, no matter if it’s like singing or lip synching … and you’re dressed as an opposite gender than assigned at your birth, then that could be prohibited behavior, banned behavior, illegal behavior,