On Tuesday Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office rejected the popular name and ballot title of an abortion amendment vying for Arkansas’ 2024 ballot.
The proposed amendment’s wording is available here.
If approved, this amendment would permanently enshrine abortion in the Arkansas Constitution and effectively erase decades of good, pro-life laws.
For example, the amendment would prevent Arkansas law from requiring abortionists to have parental consent before performing an abortion on an underage girl. Parental consent laws for abortion help protect children from trafficking and exploitation. Repealing those laws puts underage girls at risk.
The amendment’s wording also could permit abortion in Arkansas through all nine months of pregnancy — including late term abortion and partial-birth abortion. Most Americans oppose these abortion procedures, but this amendment could give them constitutional protection in Arkansas.
The A.G.’s opinion rejecting the amendment cited multiple ambiguities in the measure. We appreciate Attorney General Griffin and his staff recognizing that this is a deeply flawed measure and rejecting it.
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