Let Arkansans Decide

The Arkansas Supreme Court’s recent decision to block an abortion rights ballot initiative sets an alarming precedent of government overreach, undermining the democratic process and silencing the voice of thousands of voters.

In a chilling echo, the Secretary of State’s office then used the same bureaucratic machinations to block a proposed medical marijuana petition. Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston has now used false claims of improper paperwork submission to reject not one, but two initiatives with over 100,000 signatures. 

“Our state and our state government are doing everything in their power to make sure that the people's voice is not heard,” a volunteer working on the medical marijuana petition said.

The case of the abortion amendment is particularly cynical. Rather than granting the standard cure period, Secretary of State John Thurston outright dismissed the initiative, sending the dispute to the Arkansas Supreme Court. On August 22, the Court upheld Thurston’s rejection in a close 4-3 vote, 

blocking the amendment from the November ballot. Following in the footsteps of the abortion rights case, the supporters of the medical marijuana petition filed a judicial challenge. Both sides have presented their final arguments to the Arkansas Supreme Court and await a final decision on whether the initiative will be allowed on the ballot. 

What was the Court’s justification for blocking the Amendment? Simply put by attorney Adam Unikowsky, the argument is based on the claim that “when the ballot initiative sponsor submitted its petition on the due date, it failed to staple a photocopy of a document it had already submitted a week earlier. The court reached this conclusion even though (a) nothing in Arkansas law requires this photocopy to be stapled; and (b) even if this requirement existed, Arkansas law is clear that the failure to staple this photocopy is curable, and the sponsor immediately cured the asserted defect.”

The argument is so flimsy, even AG Tim Griffin had a hard time defending its value during a long and rambling video released during the deliberation period.

In their dissent, Justices Karen Baker and Courtney Rae Hudson argued that Arkansas officials purposefully manipulated the rules to disqualify the abortion-rights petition. Justice Baker was particularly critical, writing:
"The majority has succeeded in its efforts to change the law in order to deprive the voters of the opportunity to vote on this issue, which is not the proper role of this court… Why are the respondent and the majority determined to keep this particular vote from the people?"

Baker and Hudson jointly stated, “This requirement was made up out of whole cloth. Regnat Populus — The People Rule — is the motto of Arkansas. Today’s decision strips every Arkansan of this power.”

The reality is Arkansas is one of only 14 states under a full abortion ban, which, despite Arkansas’s claims to be “the most pro-life state in the country”, has only increased negative outcomes for both newborns and their mothers.  After Texas passed its full abortion ban, the maternal death rate increased by 56%. According to the CDC, Arkansas already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, with a staggering 92% of these deaths being preventable. 

For a state whose leaders tout their “pro-life” stances, shockingly little is being done to protect mothers. During the vice presidential debate, Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said he and former President Trump agree we need to, “let voters make these decisions, let the individual states make their abortion policy.” 

Why are Arkansas politicians going against the wishes of their party leaders and actively obstructing voters from making their decisions? 

Since the Arkansas Abortion Amendment was disqualified this August, voters in other states have seen both legal victories and public support to decide on abortion matters themselves:

• Tennessee: Federal judge temporarily blocks Tennessee's 'abortion trafficking' law | AP News
• Arizona: A Majority in Arizona Supports Establishing Right to Abortion, Poll Finds - The New York Times
• North Dakota: Judge overturns North Dakota’s near-total abortion ban - The Washington Post
• Nebraska: Nebraska Supreme Court allows competing abortion measures on November ballot
• Missouri: Abortion gets back on the Missouri ballot after 4-3 vote at state Supreme Court

Learn more about how Arkansas officials manipulated the rules on the abortion amendment here and about the ongoing legal battles here. 

It’s time for Arkansas to trust its voters and let the people decide their own future.