State House 24
1. Abortion: Arkansas’ current law that prohibits abortion except to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Oppose
I oppose this statement. I'm a constitutionalist and I've read it closely. Government has been permitted to strip a person of bodily autonomy only twice in our history: as a slave and as a convicted criminal. The 13th Amendment abolished involuntary servitude in every other form. The 4th Amendment secures every person in their own body against government intrusion. The 9th Amendment keeps rights not written on the page in the hands of the people. Forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy against her will fits neither exception the Constitution allows. That makes it a decision for a woman, her doctor, and her God, not her legislature. Arkansas also carries one of the worst maternal death records in the nation, and a ban written this narrow leaves doctors afraid to act in the very emergency it claims to cover. I support returning that decision to the people it belongs to.
I oppose this statement. I'm a constitutionalist and I've read it closely. Government has been permitted to strip a person of bodily autonomy only twice in our history: as a slave and as a convicted criminal. The 13th Amendment abolished involuntary servitude in every other form. The 4th Amendment secures every person in their own body against government intrusion. The 9th Amendment keeps rights not written on the page in the hands of the people. Forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy against her will fits neither exception the Constitution allows. That makes it a decision for a woman, her doctor, and her God, not her legislature. Arkansas also carries one of the worst maternal death records in the nation, and a ban written this narrow leaves doctors afraid to act in the very emergency it claims to cover. I support returning that decision to the people it belongs to.
Charlene Fite (Republican)
Support
I was lead sponsor on several bills strengthening AR’s laws against abortion, and co-sponsor of others.
I was lead sponsor on several bills strengthening AR’s laws against abortion, and co-sponsor of others.
2. Abortion: Establishing a permanent funding stream to provide state-funded grants to charities that provide women with alternatives to abortion.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Oppose
I oppose this. What happens between a woman, her doctor, and her God isn't the government's business, and it isn't the taxpayers' business either. Setting up a permanent stream of state money to steer that private decision one way puts the government right in the middle of something it has no place being. I'm a constitutionalist. Keep the state out of it. If we want to help mothers, put the money into real healthcare that keeps them alive.
I oppose this. What happens between a woman, her doctor, and her God isn't the government's business, and it isn't the taxpayers' business either. Setting up a permanent stream of state money to steer that private decision one way puts the government right in the middle of something it has no place being. I'm a constitutionalist. Keep the state out of it. If we want to help mothers, put the money into real healthcare that keeps them alive.
3. Education: The Arkansas LEARNS Act Educational Freedom Accounts that lets families use public dollars to pay for an education at a private school or homeschool.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Oppose
I oppose this as written. It needs to be repealed and replaced. I'm not against helping families, but if you take public dollars you answer to the public, the same as every public school does. That means real oversight, real academic standards, and no picking and choosing which kids you'll take. Right now most of this money goes to families already in private school while our public schools carry the lowest teacher pay ceiling in the country. Repeal it, replace it with something accountable, and fund the schools most of our kids actually attend.
I oppose this as written. It needs to be repealed and replaced. I'm not against helping families, but if you take public dollars you answer to the public, the same as every public school does. That means real oversight, real academic standards, and no picking and choosing which kids you'll take. Right now most of this money goes to families already in private school while our public schools carry the lowest teacher pay ceiling in the country. Repeal it, replace it with something accountable, and fund the schools most of our kids actually attend.
Charlene Fite (Republican)
Support
I spoke for and voted for LEARNS in Education Committee. I spoke for and voted for LEARNS in the House of Representatives. I spoke for LEARNS at several informational meetings in my district.
I spoke for and voted for LEARNS in Education Committee. I spoke for and voted for LEARNS in the House of Representatives. I spoke for LEARNS at several informational meetings in my district.
4. Drugs: Legalizing recreational marijuana in Arkansas.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Support
I support this. I'm a constitutionalist, and the way I read it, the burden is on the government, not the citizen. There's nothing in the Constitution that gives the government the power to tell a grown adult what they can put in their own body. It's just not in there. The 9th and 10th Amendments say the rights that aren't listed still belong to the people. Like I said, government has only been allowed that kind of control over a person twice. A slave and a convicted criminal. A free adult is neither one. That's their call to make, not the government's.
I support this. I'm a constitutionalist, and the way I read it, the burden is on the government, not the citizen. There's nothing in the Constitution that gives the government the power to tell a grown adult what they can put in their own body. It's just not in there. The 9th and 10th Amendments say the rights that aren't listed still belong to the people. Like I said, government has only been allowed that kind of control over a person twice. A slave and a convicted criminal. A free adult is neither one. That's their call to make, not the government's.
5. Tech: Requiring major social media websites to verify all users’ ages in order to protect children on their platforms.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Oppose
I oppose this. Protecting kids online is a parent's job, and there are already plenty of tools built to help them do it. Making every single person prove their age to log on doesn't protect children. It forces law-abiding adults to hand their ID or their face over to giant platforms just to speak, and I don't believe in censorship or government-controlled speech at any level. The Constitution keeps government out of that. Give parents the tools and the freedom to raise their own kids. Don't put the whole country in a database.
I oppose this. Protecting kids online is a parent's job, and there are already plenty of tools built to help them do it. Making every single person prove their age to log on doesn't protect children. It forces law-abiding adults to hand their ID or their face over to giant platforms just to speak, and I don't believe in censorship or government-controlled speech at any level. The Constitution keeps government out of that. Give parents the tools and the freedom to raise their own kids. Don't put the whole country in a database.
Charlene Fite (Republican)
Support
Social media misuse is one of the greatest challenges facing our children.
Social media misuse is one of the greatest challenges facing our children.
6. Gambling: Letting casinos in Arkansas conduct gambling online.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Support
I support this. What a grown adult does with their own money is their own business. I'm a constitutionalist, and I believe in free trade and free commerce without the government standing in the middle of it. I don't gamble myself, and I'd tell anybody to be careful with it, but being careful is a personal choice, not one the state gets to make for you. Keep the government out of a free citizen's private decisions.
I support this. What a grown adult does with their own money is their own business. I'm a constitutionalist, and I believe in free trade and free commerce without the government standing in the middle of it. I don't gamble myself, and I'd tell anybody to be careful with it, but being careful is a personal choice, not one the state gets to make for you. Keep the government out of a free citizen's private decisions.
7. Elections: Current ballot initiative efforts to change the Arkansas Constitution to make it easier for private individuals or entities to place measures on the ballot for a statewide vote.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
I strongly support this. The people's right to bring measures to their own ballot is written right into the Arkansas Constitution, Article 5. It's their government. Right now a citizen amendment can be thrown out because a state office decides the wording tests a grade too high on a reading formula. That isn't protecting anybody. It's using red tape to keep the people from being heard on a technicality. The people's word is the most important word there is. If a measure is constitutional, it belongs in front of the voters, not buried in a filing office. I want it easier for regular Arkansans to bring their needs to the state, not harder. Any official who uses these rules to choke off the people's voice is failing the oath they took, and the people have every right to hold them accountable.
Charlene Fite (Republican)
Oppose
The AR Constitution should not be for sale to entities outside our state who come in with considerable wealth and attempt to change our Constitution. I have personally heard hired signature gatherers misrepresenting ballot initiatives in attempts to gather signatures.
The AR Constitution should not be for sale to entities outside our state who come in with considerable wealth and attempt to change our Constitution. I have personally heard hired signature gatherers misrepresenting ballot initiatives in attempts to gather signatures.
8. Guns: Confiscation of firearms from citizens that the government deem a danger to themselves or others, otherwise known as red flag laws.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
I oppose this. Red flag laws let the government take a person's guns before that person has had any due process, and that's punishment before you've been proven to have done anything wrong. That's backwards. I'm a gun owner and a licensed gunsmith, and I take the Second Amendment seriously, but this is just as much about the Constitution's promise that you get your day in court first. And if someone truly is dangerous enough to be a threat to themselves or others, then arrest them. Don't just take their property and leave the danger standing.
9. Marriage: The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
Ryan Intchauspe (Democrat)
Oppose
I'm a constitutionalist, and I keep it simple. The government has no business in a person's private life or deciding who they get to build a family with. The 14th Amendment promises every citizen equal treatment under the law, and the 9th keeps the rights that aren't spelled out in the hands of the people. It's not the state's place to police that. I'd rather spend my time on what's actually crushing families here. Wages, housing, and getting people healthcare.
I'm a constitutionalist, and I keep it simple. The government has no business in a person's private life or deciding who they get to build a family with. The 14th Amendment promises every citizen equal treatment under the law, and the 9th keeps the rights that aren't spelled out in the hands of the people. It's not the state's place to police that. I'd rather spend my time on what's actually crushing families here. Wages, housing, and getting people healthcare.