Springdale becomes Arkansas’ first pro-life city

The Springdale City Council voted to declare Springdale, Arkansas’ first “pro-life city” in a 6-1 decison on Aug. 13, 2019.

All voted in favor of the resolution except for city councilwoman Katy Jaycox.  Councilman Jeff Watson was not present.

Councilman Colby Fulfer set the resolution in motion.

“I began working on this non binding resolution when I found out that Planned Parenthood was looking at a location in Springdale, near one of the schools,” Fulfer said.

Planned Parenthood is a provider of many health services including diabetes screening, flu vaccinations, high blood pressure screening, as well as family planning services such as birth control, pregnancy testing, and aboritions.

“I believe that abortion should be something that someone can choose on their own as an individual if they want to have an abortion, they should be able to do it cause that’s their body, It’s their right,” junior Norah Bayyari said.

The resolution to declare Springdale a “pro-life city” not only refers to the unborn but to all people.

“As the resolution states, we support life through education of our children and youth, economic opportunity,” Fulfer said.”We welcome nonprofits that support those who are struggling, and we support our Senior Center through our yearly budget. We also believe we have a great community clinic that offers affordable healthcare and reproductive healthcare.” The resolution itself states “The city of Springdale affirms the value of human life at every stage.” This is interpreted that Springdale is in support of any decision that prolongs or insures human life of any kind. The mayor’s office went further to express this line of thought.

“When we think of pro-life, a lot of times we are only thinking about the unborn child, but that is not the case here, it’s certainly a big part of it.” Mayor Doug Sprouse said. “But I think that if you read the resolution it also points out, defines pro-life as being pro all life reguardless of age,”

Fulfer was the pointman on the statement, originally presenting the idea to the city council on Aug. 13.

“There have been a few concerns, but once I walked through the resolution, line by line, with those who were concerned, they became more appreciative of the resolution,” Fulfer said.

While the statement is the official sentiment expressed by Springdale, not all of its residents are happy with the decision.

“I think that everyone has their opinion, and I guess the majority of the population agree with the pro-life.” Bayyari said. “But poeple don’t really know what pro-choice really means, because you can not want an abortion for yourself but you should let others choosefor themselves.” While this statement presents the formal sentiment expressed by Springdale, it holds no legal bearing.

“It’s more a statement on conscious,” Mayor Sprouse said. “It doesn’t change any laws or change any restrictions. It’s just a statement that a councilman brought forward that they thought it was important to make.”