It’s been a long five weeks of Arkansas legislators drawing lines in the sand against the state’s LGBTQ+ members, specifically transgender youth. Other things have been happening, too. Like the beginning of Gov. Sarah Sanders’ push for school vouchers that opponents say would prioritize private schools at the expense of public education.

While some of the bills pending at the Capitol get more attention than others, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) keeps a running list of the bills it’s tracking online, and offers a little explainer with each.

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AACF is a nonprofit that started 45 years ago, and it focuses on protecting children, improving their health and fighting for early education and out-of-school opportunities. As part of its advocacy work, the organization tracks bills from eight categories including education, equity and health. In a recent interview, Loretta Alexander, the health policy director, walked through what goes into the organization’s support for health-related bills.

Alexander said that members meet every day to discuss legislation. They support bills that improve the lives of children and families. The organization doesn’t weigh in on health bills about specific medical practices because they don’t have any clinicians on staff, Alexander said.

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In post-Roe Arkansas, the organization is supporting bills that provide aid to pregnant people or those who just had babies.

“People are taking a position that ‘We’re going to take care of these kids,’” Alexander said. “If women have to be forced to have a baby, and some of them may not be in the ideal position to raise a child … then absolutely take care of those babies after they are born.”

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Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families looks at all legislation through an “equity lens.” She said AACF supports screenings for postpartum depression, Medicaid coverage for mothers 12 months after giving birth and doing away with a Medicaid prescription cap.

Supporting the bills that help people after they’ve had a baby would likely help lower the rate of maternal mortality in Arkansas. Black mothers in Arkansas are twice as likely to die after giving birth, and the overall maternal mortality rate in the state is one of the highest in the country. Likewise, Arkansas’s infant mortality rate is also one of the highest in the country.

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“If you’re not healthy yourself, you’re not going to have as good of an outcome of taking care of your children,” Alexander said. “You’re not going to be able to work, you’re not going to manage your life nearly as well as you need to.”

The organization also gives the thumbs up for higher reimbursement for outpatient services at Arkansas’s rural hospitals, doing away with the sales tax on wheelchair accessible vehicles and expanded authority for surrogates.

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Check out all the legislation AACF is tracking here.