Arkansas Secretary of State Finishes Counting Abortion Amendment Signatures Collected by Volunteers

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On Thursday officials from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office filed testimony with the state supreme court saying that volunteers who worked for the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 collected 87,675 signatures in support of the measure.

Earlier this month Arkansans for Limited Government submitted petition signatures to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the ballot. Bringing the amendment up for a vote would require at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters.

However, Secretary of State John Thurston disqualified every petition signature, because the sponsors failed to provide affidavits that state law requires concerning paid petition canvassers.

By law, ballot initiative sponsors must file a statement confirming that each paid canvassers was given a copy of the state’s initiative and referenda handbook as well as an explanation of relevant state laws before he or she solicited petition signatures. The sponsors backing the abortion measure failed to file this specific documentation when they submitted the petitions for the abortion amendment. That prompted the Secretary of State to reject all of the petitions.

Arkansans for Limited Government filed a lawsuit, claiming Secretary of State Thurston unlawfully rejected its petitions. On Tuesday, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an order directing the Secretary of State to count the Arkansas Abortion Amendment petition signatures collected by volunteers.

On Thursday the Secretary of State informed the Arkansas Supreme Court that its office had counted 87,675 abortion amendment signatures collected by volunteers. That is 3,029 fewer than necessary to qualify for the ballot.

The Secretary of State’s affidavit only contains the gross number of signatures on the petitions, and it does not say how many signatures were from registered voters — so it is unknown how many of those signatures would be disqualified if the petitions underwent the full validation process that Arkansas law requires.

Legal experts have pointed out the abortion amendment would prevent the State of Arkansas from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — which is more extreme than Roe v. Wade — and would allow thousands of elective abortions on healthy women and unborn children every year.

The amendment does not contain any medical licensing or health and safety standards for abortion, and it does not require abortions to be performed by a physician or in a licensed medical facility.

It automatically nullifies all state laws that conflict with the amendment, jeopardizing basic abortion regulations — like parental-consent and informed-consent requirements that both sides of the aisle have supported in the past.

The measure also contains various exceptions that would permit abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy in many cases.

Family Council will continue to monitor and report on the lawsuit over the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024.

You can download a copy of the Arkansas Abortion Amendment here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Welcomes First Victory in Federal Lawsuit Over Fairness in Women’s Sports

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On Thursday a federal court blocked the Biden Administration from enforcing a new rule that would jeopardize girls’ privacy at school and undermine fairness in women’s sports.

Earlier this year the Biden Administration released more than 1,500 pages of new rules drastically reinterpreting “sex” under Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs.

Under these new federal rules, public schools could be forced to let biological males compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms, showers, and changing areas at school.

In May Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced his office and the Missouri Attorney General’s office were leading the legal challenge against the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules in federal court.

The A.G.’s lawsuit also included a high school student from Brookland, Arkansas, who argued the rule change would threaten her privacy in school locker rooms and on overnight trips.

On Thursday the judge presiding over the lawsuit issued a preliminary injunction blocking the federal government from enforcing the new Title IX rules in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

This is a good ruling that protects girls’ privacy at school and preserves fairness in women’s sports. This initial decision is likely to be appealed, but we believe higher courts ultimately will uphold it.

We have written time and again about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

For example, female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, and others have seen their sports radically changed by biological males who identify and compete as women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports isn’t just unfair. In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

Fortunately, educators, policymakers, and athletic organizations are taking steps to protect women’s sports.

Last fall the North American Grappling Association clarified its competition policy, saying biological males must compete against other men, regardless of their gender identity.

Earlier this year the professional golf league NXXT Golf announced that only biological females would be eligible to participate in the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour.

And recently the NAIA announced a policy that should prevent male athletes from competing in women’s collegiate sports.

Many states — including Arkansas — have also enacted laws that preserve fairness in women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

It’s worth point out that public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans agreeing that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. 

Family Council appreciates Attorney General Tim Griffin and Governor Sanders for standing up against the Biden Administration’s reinterpretation of Title IX. And we look forward to future victories as this lawsuit progresses through our federal court system.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Planned Parenthood Shows No Activity in Arkansas for 2024 Election Cycle

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Planned Parenthood’s political action committee has reported no activity in Arkansas so far during the 2024 election cycle.

Political action committees typically issue campaign endorsements and donate money to candidates and political causes. Earlier this month Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas — the PAC for Planned Parenthood in Arkansas — filed a quarterly report showing no campaign donations in the state during April, May, and June of 2024.

Planned Parenthood currently operates two facilities in Arkansas — one in Rogers and one in Little Rock — but neither one performs abortions.

In 2020 Planned Parenthood Federation announced it would spend at least $45 million in an effort to unseat pro-life lawmakers and elect candidates who support abortion. As part of that plan, the group used its PAC in Arkansas to support candidates for state and federal office.

However, since then, the abortion giant has been quiet in Arkansas. Right now the group’s PAC has a little less than $12,000 at its disposal, but it has not announced any endorsements in Arkansas for the 2024 election cycle.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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