UPDATE 8/23/22024: The Arkansas Supreme Court has blocked a pro-abortion measure in a 4-3 vote in favor of Attorney General Tim Griffin, keeping it off the ballot in November.
Griffin argued that the abortion advocates who petitioned for the measure failed to submit the proper paperwork. The justices appeared to agree.
“The petitioners failed to comply with the statutory filing requirements for paid canvassers,” the justices said. “The failure is fatal.”
Arkansans for Limited Government had submitted more than 100,000 signatures in August for the ballot measure, which aimed to permit abortion up to 20 weeks gestation (18 weeks post-fertilization), allowing preborn children to be killed for any reason. Those older than 20 weeks gestation could be killed for being conceived in rape or incest, or to protect a woman’s physical health, including “a life-endangering physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself and… any situation in which continuation of a pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function of a pregnant female….”
Arkansas requires groups collecting signatures for a ballot measure to submit a statement that lists all the paid canvassers and confirms that they were all trained to properly collect signatures and given a handbook on the state policies. While the pro-abortion group argued that it did follow the rules, the court ruled that it did not.
Two dissenting judges, however, Justices Karen Baker and Courtney Rae Hudson, argued that state officials changed the rules so that the petition could be disqualified.
UPDATE 7/15/2024: The Associated Press has reported that Arkansans for Limited Government, the coalition behind the abortion ballot initiative, is suing to have Secretary of State John Thurston’s decision rejecting their petition overturned.
Thurston said the signatures they submitted were at least partially invalid, as they did not submit the statements required for paid canvassers. According to state records, a signed affidavit, including a list of paid canvassers and a statement saying that the petition rules had been explained to them, was submitted on June 27th. The submission of their signatures on July 5 also included affidavits from each paid signature-gatherer acknowledging that the initiative group had provided them with all the rules and regulations required by the law. The state, however, said that these items were not signed by the sponsor of the initiative, and the documents weren’t included with the signed petitions, and therefore, did not comply with the law.
The pro-abortion coalition is now asking the state Supreme Court to force the state to count and validate their signatures, allowing the initiative to go on the November ballot.
July 15, 2024: Just a week after gaining enough signatures, the Arkansas secretary of state has rejected a pro-abortion constitutional amendment initiative for November’s ballot.
Earlier this month, Arkansans for Limited Government, the pro-abortion coalition behind the amendment, said it had gathered over 100,000 signatures supporting the amendment and submitted it to Secretary of State John Thurston to verify the signatures, and qualify it for the ballot. Thurston, however, rejected the petition, saying the group had not submitted required statements about the paid staffers who gathered signatures.
Thurston said the group did not give statements confirming each staffer was given the required documentation, or an explanation of state law before they began gathering signatures. Furthermore, he said the number of signatures actually fell short of what was needed due to this oversight.
“Even if your failure to comply with Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-111(f)(2) did not require me to reject your submission outright, it would certainly mean that signatures gathered by paid canvassers in your submission could not be counted for any reason,” he said in a letter sent to the coalition. “You submitted an affidavit attesting that the total number of signatures submitted was 101,525. As a courtesy to you, I instructed my office to determine the official count of signatures gathered by paid canvassers in your putative submission. That number was 14,143. After removing those signatures, and assuming your attestation as valid, 87,382 volunteer signatures remain – 3,322 signatures less than the required 90,704. Therefore, even if I could accept your submission, I would be forced to find that your petition is insufficient on its face for failure to obtain the required 90,704 signatures.”
Today is a great day for life in Arkansas. The Secretary of State’s office officially rejected the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, and it will not appear on the ballot in November. Life is the most basic God given human right and Arkansas will continue to protect the lives of our… pic.twitter.com/mdGexwFI3Y
— Senator Ben Gilmore (@lbengilmore) July 10, 2024
The Arkansas ballot amendment would permit abortion up to 20 weeks gestation (18 weeks post-fertilization), allowing preborn children to be killed for any reason. Those older than 20 weeks gestation could be killed for being conceived in rape or incest, or to protect a woman’s physical health, including “a life-endangering physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself and… any situation in which continuation of a pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function of a pregnant female….”
The latest research has shown that preborn children can likely feel pain by the end of the first trimester.
The amendment also explicitly redefines the government’s “compelling interest” to exclude anything related to the protection of the preborn child. This could affect measures like waiting periods, ultrasounds, or informed consent measures.
The coalition responded almost immediately, tweeting, “We’re not backing down without a fight.” In a letter sent to Thurston, they claimed they did follow all state laws, and said Thurston’s rejection was a “ridiculous” attempt to “silence” abortion advocates. AFLG Executive Director Lauren Cowles gave Thurston a deadline of Monday to confirm “that the submission of the initiative petition facially contains the required number of signatures and that your office is proceeding to verify all of the submitted signatures.”
In another tweeted statement, the group stated it is “alarmed” and “outraged” over Thurston’s rejection. “More than 101,000 Arkansans participated in this heroic act of direct democracy and stood up to loudly proudly proclaim their support for access to healthcare. They deserve better than a state government that seeks to silence them,” the statement said. “We will fight this ridiculous disqualification attempt with everything we have. We will not back down.”
Of course, the “healthcare” they support — unlike legitimate health care — intentionally kills human beings:
Conversely, Arkansas Right to Life applauded Thurston.
“Thanks to the office of the Arkansas Secretary of State for their diligent work in the certification process of the Arkansas Abortion Amendment,” they said. “We appreciate the attention to law in determining the validity of the signatures submitted by Arkansans for Limited Government. It appears the effort to enshrine abortion in the Arkansas Constitution is over for 2024 but the war to end the lives of innocent unborn babies in Arkansas will no doubt continue.”
