Efforts to get abortion on the Arkansas ballot is over after State Supreme Court decision
The court upheld the state's ruling 4-3.
The State Supreme Court ruled against Arkansans For Limited Government (AFLG), a group that has been fighting to get abortion access on the ballot this November.
The court issued the opinion on Thursday, Aug. 22, upholding the state's rejection of signature petitions that would have put the abortion rights initiative on the ballot.
"We find that the Secretary correctly refused to count the signatures collected by paid canvassers because the sponsor failed to file the paid canvasser training certification," the court said in a 4-3 ruling.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Karen Baker said the state Constitution says "the first power reserved by the people is the initiative."
"Today's decision strips every Arkansan of this power," Baker wrote.
Baker argued that Allison Clark, a staffer for the company the abortion-rights group hired to collect signatures, submitted multiple paid canvasser training certifications. Baker said the final certification was submitted on June 27 and "included all paid canvassers that had been hired by that date."
Baker claims this particular initiative has been treated differently than others vying to be put on the ballot this election cycle.
"Even a cursory review of how the present ballot initiative has progressed since its inception demonstrates that both the respondent and the majority have treated it differently for the sole purpose of preventing the people from voting on this issue," Baker said.
The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would have prohibited the state from banning abortions within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy, or in the instance of rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomalies. Right now, Arkansas fully bans abortion unless the woman's life is endangered.
Reactions Arkansans For Limited Government, AG Tim Griffin, and other groups react to the court's decision.
Several people across Arkansas, both for and against this amendment, had strong opinions about the court's decision.
"Today is a dark day in Arkansas," AFLG, the group backing the amendment, said. "More than 102,000 Arkansas voters exercised their constitutionally protected right to engage in direct democracy by signing the petition to get the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the ballot. The Court’s majority ratifies Secretary Thurston’s decision to silence those voices."
However, Attorney General Tim Griffin said he believes the Supreme Court's decision was fair, especially because a qualifying amendment could impact several Arkansans' lives.
"When campaigns go out and hire paid canvassers, the legislatures made it clear through the laws that we want to make sure those paid individuals are trained," Griffin said. "Why do we want them trained? Because they're playing a really important role in a process that could change the law for millions of people."
AFLG said the back-and-forth between Secretary of State John Thurston and the court's decision was unfair.
"Everyone today is feeling disappointed, frustrated, outraged, feeling like this was not really a fair fight, and that the law is not being applied evenly," Rebecca Bobrow with AFLG said.
While AFLG and dissenting judges expressed concerns about unfair treatment, Griffin said AFLG is to blame for the outcome.
"The marijuana folks were able to comply with that provision. Casino folks were able to comply with that provision. The abortion folks couldn't, didn't, for whatever reason. They didn't," Griffin said. "If they're looking for someone to blame, I'd like to get them a mirror, because they're responsible," Griffin said.
Although the initiative won't appear on the November ballot, AFLG assured voters their fight isn't over. They will have another chance to put an amendment on the 2026 ballot.
"Despite this infuriating result, our fight isn’t over," the group said. "We can’t — and won’t — rest until Arkansas women have access to safe, standard health care and the autonomy to make decisions about their bodies free from governmental interference."
AFLG thanked volunteers for their efforts up until this point.
"They were fearless in the face of misinformation, intimidation, and harassment. And their work will leave an indelible mark on Arkansas politics," AFLG said.
Other anti-abortion groups applauded the court's decision.
"This campaign has revealed that Arkansas is home to a strong, pro-life community," Jerry Cox with Family Council said. "Groups like Arkansas Right to Life, Family Council Action Committee, Stronger Arkansas, the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, and churches along with ministers, elected officials such as Governor Sanders, and many volunteers all came together to win this great victory."
Background What led to this ruling?
Each group vying to get their initiatives on the November ballot was required to submit 90,704 valid signatures from at least 50 counties by July 5. AFLG said they submitted over 100,000 signatures for the abortion amendment.
Less than a week after AFLG's submission, Secretary of State John Thurston disqualified the amendment. He claimed AFLG did not submit the proper paperwork by the deadline, including documents identifying paid canvassers by name and a signed statement confirming they had a copy of the recent edition of the state's initiatives and referenda handbook.
Thurston said if 14,143 of the 101,525 signatures were collected by paid canvassers, then the measure would still fall short of the 90,704 requirement. At that point, Thurston refused to count the signatures.
The group filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State's Office, claiming Thurston's rejection was "unlawful" and robs voters of the opportunity to approve or deny the amendment themselves.
Gennie Diaz with AFLG also said the group submitted the required documents before the deadline. The document AFLG submitted back in July was signed by Allison Clark, a staffer for the company the abortion-rights group hired to collect signatures.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, who was representing Thurston, filed a motion to dismiss AFLG's lawsuit. Griffin said Thurston was correct in his rejection.
In the motion, Griffin also said Clark submitted an affidavit as a paid canvasser instead of a sponsor. He said a person "cannot be both a paid canvasser and a measure's sponsor."
Amidst the legal back and forth, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the Secretary of State's Office to perform an initial count of signatures submitted by volunteer canvassers. Thurston said volunteer canvassers collected 87,675 signatures. AFLG said since Thurston previously counted 14,143 signatures collected by paid canvassers, the combined total would be 102,730.
Other groups sponsoring additional ballot measures, like the medical marijuana and Pope County casino amendments, joined the lawsuit ahead of the Supreme Court decision. The groups said they followed the same procedures as AFLG did.
The court is still deliberating for the marijuana and casino measures. As of right now, both amendments are still certified for the November election.
This series of events has led to the Arkansas Supreme Court justices ruling against the abortion measure, preventing it from appearing on November's ballot.
"We find that the petitioners failed to comply with the statutory filing requirements for paid canvassers," the ruling said.
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