Arkansas abortion amendment supporters respond to motion to dismiss lawsuit
This was reported this morning in the Arkansas Advocate.
arkansasadvocate.com/…
Arkansans for Limited Government on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to deny the attorney general’s motion to dismiss its lawsuit challenging the secretary of state’s rejection of the group’s proposed ballot measure to expand abortion access.
…
“Petitioners continually tried to follow the correct procedures and the Secretary’s office repeatedly told them they were doing so, before the Secretary abruptly rejected their petition,” he wrote. “This bait and switch was unfair, and the Secretary should be estopped from rejecting petitioners’ submission.”
If the proposed Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024 makes it to the ballot and is approved by voters in November, it would not allow government entities to “prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion services within 18 weeks of fertilization.”
The proposal would also permit abortion services in cases of rape, incest, a fatal fetal anomaly or to “protect the pregnant female’s life or physical health,” and it would nullify any of the state’s existing “provisions of the Constitution, statutes and common law” that conflict with it.
Abortion has been illegal in Arkansas, except to save the pregnant person’s life, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
It’s clear to me that neither Secretary Of State Thurston or Attorney General Griffin are trying to follow the law but are instead acting on ideology, as if they were anti abortion activists rather than state officials sworn to uphold the constitution and follow/enforce the law.
I am curious about conversations between Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Thurston, and Griffin that might have occurred, even before the petitions were submitted. It does seem that the Secretary Of State’s office was giving incorrect advice to the petitioners with the intent of then blaming them for following their incorrect advice. Comments from other state officials came quickly like pre-planned talking points. This alone is not evidence of intentional malfeasance but I think it does warrant further investigation. It smells a lot like ratfucking to me.
Action!
Now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive nominee I have a new action point.
Wouldn’t it be great if Harris mentioned the situation in Arkansas. It’s a perfect example of top Republican governance illegally fighting against abortion rights and voting rights/democracy, our two top platform items. And it’s not just Arkansas. It’s a national movement by Republicans to deny democracy to abortion rights activists that is happening and has happened in Montana and other states.
How do we suggest this? How do we get this placed in front of Harris? I can see her wanting to talk about this. It fits right in with her main talking points.
And, Lord knows, we need someone to shine a light on this situation in Arkansas. My first diary on this topic was titled We Need Help In Arkansas and that’s still the truth.
Join the email list at arliberty.org. This will keep you abreast of the latest news from AFLG.
And donate
Donation page here, arliberty.org/… Merch page here, shop.arliberty.org
Even though they won their lawsuit in Montana there’s still a fight ahead to get the amendment on the ballot. You didn’t think the Republicans were going to quit their voter nullification just because a judge told them to? (rhetorical question)
Donate to the Montana effort.
mtreprorights.org
Rec this diary for exposure. I’m following this story daily and I can’t wait to report that the Secretary Of State’s office folds and they are counting the signatures.
If you live in Arkansas and you haven’t registered to vote please do that now. If you don’t know how to register go to the AFLG website at arliberty.org. They will help you get registered to vote. We will need you to vote on the amendment after the signatures are counted and it gets on the ballot. (Speaking optimistically)
Here’s a good link for voter registration nationwide. If you aren’t registered register now. If you think you’re registered, check. Don’t wait until election day to find out you’ve been purged.
www.vote.org
Please post your news on this national issue in the comments.
Please add more action links and strategies in the comments.
There’s a reason why Republicans are doing this. If the amendments are put on the ballot they will pass. Republicans know this but they don’t care about voter’s rights any more than they care about abortion rights.
Count the signatures!
Count the signatures!
Thanks
