Arkansas
Republican IVF bill fails in U.S. Senate • Arkansas Advocate
WASHINGTON — Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt’s efforts to pass legislation that would block Medicaid funding from going to states that ban in vitro fertilization were unsuccessful Wednesday when Democrats blocked the bill from advancing.
Britt, who introduced the legislation earlier this year alongside Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said during brief debate the bill would assuage concerns about couples losing access to IVF, though Democrats said the measure fell short of providing real protections.
Debate took place shortly after the Southern Baptist Convention, the United States’ largest Protestant religious organization and one with significant influence in conservative politics, voted to condemn IVF.
It also came one day before the entire U.S. Senate is set to vote on a bill from Democrats that would provide nationwide protections for IVF. That measure also lacks the bipartisan backing needed to advance to final passage.
“For the millions of Americans who face infertility every year, IVF provides the hope of a pathway to parenthood,” Britt said on the floor. “We all have loved ones — whether they’re family members or friends — who have become parents or grandparents through IVF.”
Britt said that ensuring access to IVF is “fundamentally pro-family” and that the legislation should provide couples with “certainty and peace of mind that IVF will remain legal and available in every single state.”
Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said the Britt-Cruz bill would still allow states to “enact burdensome and unnecessary” regulations on IVF that could lead to the kind of “legal uncertainty and risk” that forced IVF clinics in Alabama to close temporarily earlier this year.
“Even though it is an inherent part of the IVF process that families will make more embryos than they need,” Murray said. “This bill does absolutely nothing — not a single thing — to ensure families who use IVF can have their clinics dispose of unused embryos without facing legal threats for a standard medical procedure.”
Murray said GOP senators were completely ignoring the issue of what happens to frozen embryos and using the bill as a “PR tool.”
“The stone-cold reality is that you cannot protect IVF and champion fetal personhood,” Murray said.
State access
The Britt-Cruz legislation would prevent a state from receiving Medicaid funding if it barred access to IVF, though the bill didn’t say anything about states that define life as beginning at fertilization.
The Alabama state Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that frozen embryos constituted children didn’t explicitly ban IVF, but all of the state’s clinics stopped operating until the legislature provided civil and criminal protections.
Cruz sought to pass the bill using the unanimous consent process, where any one senator can ask for approval and any one senator can block that legislation from moving forward. Murray blocked Cruz’s request.
Unanimous consent requests don’t include a recorded vote.
The legislation had three additional co-sponsors — Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Roger Marshall of Kansas.
Democrat bill
The Senate is set to take a procedural vote as soon as Thursday on legislation from Democrats that would bolster protections for IVF, though that bill isn’t expected to get the GOP support needed to move forward.
That bill is more detailed and broader than the Britt-Cruz bill, which has received criticism from Democrats as being insufficient.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said Wednesday during a press conference that access to IVF shouldn’t be turned into a political issue and called on GOP senators to back the bill.
“We can’t make this seem like a left-right issue. It’s absolutely not,” Booker said. “This is an issue that’s overwhelmingly supported in America by Republican families, Democratic families and independent families. And so trying to make this into some kind of typical political debate in Washington is just wrong.”
Booker said protecting access to IVF is, instead, “about protecting fundamental rights, expanding opportunity, taking care of our military families.”
Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill’s lead co-sponsor who has been open about using IVF to have her two daughters, threw cool water on working with Republicans on a bipartisan bill when asked about the possibility during the press conference.
“Well, they’re welcome to join ours and make it bipartisan. We’ve got 47 co-sponsors thus far and it’s a very simple piece of legislation,” Duckworth said. “I can’t see why they wouldn’t join it.
“In contrast, 90% of Republicans have not signed on to Senator Britt’s bill,” Duckworth added.
Southern Baptists’ resolution
Senate debate on in vitro fertilization is taking place the same week the Southern Baptist Convention meets in Indiana for its annual convention.
During that two-day gathering more than 10,000 Baptists, called messengers, voted on official policies of the SBC, which included objecting to how IVF is practiced now.
The SBC wrote in its resolution that IVF “most often engages in the destruction of embryonic human life and increasingly engages in dehumanizing methods for determining suitability for life and genetic sorting, based on notions of genetic fitness and parental preferences.”
The resolution on IVF “resolved” that members of the SBC should “only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation” as well as several other affirmations within the document.
The resolution was titled, “On the Ethical Realities of Reproductive Technologies and the Dignity of the Human Embryo.”
Kristen Ferguson, from 11th Street Baptist Church in Upland, California, who announced the resolution before the vote, opposed an amendment that would have made several changes to the text.
Ferguson said during a brief debate the committee that wrote the resolutions for the SBC to vote on wanted to make sure it addressed IVF “with the utmost sensitivity.”
She added that members of the resolutions committee did “not take this topic lightly and we want to make sure that we’re speaking carefully about it.”
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BROOKLYN — Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff is the first of three Razorbacks off the board in the 2026 NBA Draft Tuesday night when he was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round.
Acuff’s selection makes him the highest drafted player from Arkansas since 2023 when Anthony Black went No. 6 overall to the Orlando Magic.
He went into the night projected to be the first player from the Hogs taken following a phenomenal freshman year that saw him earn first team All-American honors, SEC Player of the Year, league freshman of the year, and SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Likely his biggest accomplishment was becoming the first player to lead the SEC in points and assists since Pete Maravich in 1970.
As a freshman, Acuff averaged over 24 points, six assists and three rebounds on 48% shooting from the field, 44% from three and 81% from free throw line.
His knack as a bucket getter and facilitator lifted the Razorbacks to a different level in the postseason by averaging an astonishing 30 points, seven assists and one steal across six postseason tournament games.
He led Arkansas to a victory over Vanderbilt for the SEC Tournament Championship and back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances.
Arguably his best performance of the season came in a double-overtime classic in Tuscaloosa against Alabama when he dropped 49 points on 16-of-27 from the floor, 6-of-10 from three and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. He also contributed with five rebounds, five assists and only one turnover in 50 minutes.
And don’t forget, the 6-foot-2, 186 pound point guard did all of that on a bum ankle he sustained against Aubrn just four days prior.
During a media appearance on ESPN last week, Calipari made sure to warn NBA teams they will regret passing on superstar point guard.
“A great teammate. We all hear stuff. I’m around these kids, all they want to do is get better. They want to respect who’s coaching them,” Calipari told Colin Cowherd on The Herd. “And Darius Acuff, I’m telling you, there’s going to be some guys regretting [not picking him.]
“That’s okay. That’s okay. When he starts playing, you’ll remember this conversation, and we’re saying, ‘You’re going to regret not taking him.’”
Acuff is the latest in a growing list of coach John Calipari guards to be selected as lottery picks across his four decades in the college game. Former Kentucky stars Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, John Wall, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, De’Aaron Fox and Brandon Knight.
During his time at Memphis, Calipari helped Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and Dajuan Wagner were each lotter picks from 2000-2009.
The 2026 NBA Draft will continue with its second round Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
Coach Cal Reaction
There haven’t been many times over the years that Calipari has missed out on watching one of his stars stroll across the stage to shake hands with the NBA Commissioner.
The second-year Razorbacks coach told the world Tuesday night that the Kings will be getting a “fierce competitor and winner” in Acuff.
With NBA Lottery pick and Sacramento Kings Guard Darius Acuff Jr!!! Congratulations to the entire family! The Kings are getting a fierce competitor and winner https://t.co/pk7T9H8e8b
— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) June 24, 2026
Being drafted by Sacramento shouldn’t come as a surprise either as most mock drafts pegged him at No. 7 overall since the beginning of the college basketball offseason. With so many connections to the franchise, the Kings’ organization might be the perfect fit after all as General manager Scott Perry coached his father two decades ago at Eastern Kentucky.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KAIT) – Registration is open for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s annual urban deer hunt.
This year’s hunts will be held in Cherokee Village, Fairfield Bay, Heber Springs, Helena-West Helena, Horseshoe Bend and Russellville.
The archery-only hunts are designed to offer an “inexpensive and effective method of nuisance deer management,” according to an AGFC news release.
Deer harvested during the urban hunts do not count toward a hunter’s seasonal limit, and there are no limits to the number of deer that can be harvested.
However, the first deer taken must be donated to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry, which provides ground meat to food pantries across the state.
Hunters must pass the International Bowhunters Education Program before participating. The program is available at www.agfc.com/education/hunter-education.
Hunters also must attend orientation to learn the specific rules of the hunts and pass a shooting proficiency test.
For more information, visit www.agfc.com/urbanhunt.
To report a typo or correction, please click here.
Copyright 2026 KAIT. All rights reserved.
The Arkansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Monday, June 22, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 22 drawing
17-19-21-45-48, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from June 22 drawing
Midday: 8-6-8
Evening: 4-9-7
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from June 22 drawing
Midday: 4-4-6-9
Evening: 6-4-1-4
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Natural State Jackpot numbers from June 22 drawing
07-17-23-28-32
Check Natural State Jackpot payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 22 drawing
07-08-20-24-42, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Arkansas Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Cash 3 Midday: 12:59 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
- Cash 3 Evening: 6:59 p.m. CT daily.
- Cash 4 Midday: 12:59 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
- Cash 4 Evening: 6:59 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Natural State Jackpot: 8 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
- LOTTO: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Arkansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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