Arkansas Supreme Court Issues Briefing Schedule in Abortion Amendment Lawsuit

Abortion, , , ,

On Friday afternoon the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an order setting deadlines for briefings in the lawsuit over a proposed abortion amendment.

The order directs the Secretary of State’s office to respond to the original lawsuit by 9:00 AM today, and it sets additional briefing deadlines for this Friday and the next.

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.

The Arkansas Supreme Court subsequently ordered 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 counted 87,675 abortion amendment signatures collected by volunteers — 3,029 fewer signatures than state law requires for a measure to qualify for the ballot.

That — coupled with the Secretary of State’s determination that Arkansans for Limited Government failed to comply with state law in filing its paid canvasser affidavits — should mean the abortion measure will not appear on the ballot this November.

However, the Arkansas Supreme Court has asked for both the Secretary of State and Arkansans for Limited Government to file additional briefs with the court this week and next week — meaning this case is likely to continue until at least mid-August.

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 A.G. Asks Biden Administration Not to Reclassify Marijuana

Marijuana

Last week Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined 10 other state attorneys general in asking the Biden Administration not to reclassify marijuana.

In May the Biden Administration’s Justice Department announced plans to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug — putting it in the same category as anabolic steroids or Tylenol with Codeine.

The rule change would not legalize marijuana outright, but it could create more confusion about marijuana’s legal status and make it much easier for people to grow and use marijuana.

This proposed rule change comes despite growing evidence of marijuana’s serious — and permanent — impact on physical and mental health.

A body of scientific research reveals that marijuana is harmful — especially for teens and young adults. 

Nationwide, since 2019, the number of kids diagnosed with cannabis-induced mental disorders, including schizophrenia and psychotic episodes, has increased by 50%.

And research has shown time and again that marijuana has a significant potential for dependence and abuse.

On July 22, state attorneys general from Arkansas, Nebraska, Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina, and South Dakota joined a statement urging the Biden Administration not to reschedule marijuana.

Among other things, the A.G.’s comments note that “rescheduling marijuana would violate the United States’ international treaty obligations” regarding illicit drugs, and that rescheduling marijuana would “compound the harms” that marijuana already causes.

As Family Council told the federal government in our public comments earlier this month, reclassifying marijuana would signal that marijuana has an accepted medical use when it actually does not. It would ignore the potential for abuse and dependence among users. And it would risk contributing to psychotic disorders and mental illnesses in America.

Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

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

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

Abortion, , , ,

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.

READ MORE