The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that protected women's rights to an abortion struck a bad chord with some local elected officials, while proponents of Friday's ruling saw it as the successful completion of decades of struggle, now that states including Arkansas are allowed to criminalize abortion again.
By a 6-3 margin, the Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a case that referred to Mississippi's abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, that the Constitution does not provide a right to abortion. The case also rejects a 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld the Roe v. Wade decision.
"It's disappointing to me because people should have a right to decide what to do with their bodies," said Lanette Frazier, an African Methodist Episcopal pastor who on Tuesday won a Democratic primary runoff to unseat Ivan Whitfield as Pine Bluff Ward 3 council member. "Even God gave us a choice, a free will. He wants something for us but left it in our hands. It's sad the Supreme Court is making that decision."
Chief Justice John Roberts concurred in the judgment penned by Justice Samuel Alito. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett also concurred.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
Abortion has been looked down upon in Christian congregations for ages, as many followers consider the act to be tantamount to the slaying of a child before birth as well as being a sin and a violation of one of the Ten Commandments that forbids killing. It is not clear, however, if an abortion center exists in southeast Arkansas, an area known for its religious traditions.
Stephen Harrison, a Pine Bluff native and former pastor of Family Church in White Hall, exclaimed "Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus!" in his statement on the overturn.
"Justice for 60-plus-million babies!" said Harrison, who now leads The Summit Church Saline County campus. "This is a monumental day we have prayed and fasted for."
Harrison also offered a prayer for the church to "love and resource" those who are expecting children and to foster and adopt more unwanted babies.
"May more states ban abortions!" he said.
A woman's choice whether to have an abortion, however, is personal, Frazier said.
"Of course, we [Christians] want a life to live," she said. "We're definitely pro-life. At the same time, having someone else to make a decision for us is frightening, where we don't have the choice. For us as pastors, because we're scripture-based, the truth of the matter is that's the choice between the person and their God."
State Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, criticized the Supreme Court decision in a statement through the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
"The medical privacy, decision-making and very lives of women have been breached by what amounts to an attack on women for the sake of political power-mongering and the unfortunate cheapening of the U.S. Supreme Court," Flowers said. "Government's first and primary role is to protect its citizens, including women and especially children. This ruling destroys the promise of equal protection by waving the banner of state's rights over the rights of women to choose and to live. Arkansas' abortion ban with no exception for rape or incest is not just mean, it is a return to a time in which women and girls are excluded from governmental protection, instead criminalizing and terrorizing them.
"It is my mission to stand in this breach and to encourage the women and men of this state to not let this pass in silence. This is a moment to not only be heard, but to act."