Arkansas Secures Pro-Life Stand: Supreme Court Blocks Abortion Amendment from Ballot

 By Andrea Trudden - Posted at Pregnancy Help News:

Published August 22, 2024

In a narrow 4-3 decision, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the rejection of a petition that sought to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot, which would have allowed voters to decide on abortion access in the state. The court’s ruling effectively ends efforts by Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG) to qualify the measure for the upcoming general election.

The proposed amendment aimed to legalize abortion in Arkansas up to 18 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for cases involving rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies, and threats to the mother’s health. It was introduced in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which returned the power to regulate abortion to individual states. Arkansas currently has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, banning the procedure in nearly all circumstances.

Secretary of State John Thurston had earlier ruled that AFLG failed to meet state requirements due to incomplete documentation regarding paid canvassers. Specifically, AFLG did not submit a necessary affidavit for a portion of their paid canvassers, a key legal requirement under state law. As a result, the signatures collected by these canvassers were disqualified, dropping the total below the threshold needed to qualify for the ballot.

Writing for the majority, Justice Rhonda Wood emphasized that the court’s role is not to overrule the clear language of the law. “This court is being asked to order another constitutional officer, the Arkansas Secretary of State, to ignore a mandatory statutory provision that he has enforced. That is not the proper role of the court,” she wrote. “Given the undisputed facts, we hold that AFLG, by its own admission, failed to submit the required paid canvasser training certification.”

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