With no national support or attention, Arkansas women (and a few good men) did what everyone said couldn’t be done. On July 5, organizers turned in enough signatures to qualify an amendment to restore access to abortion in Arkansas. The amendment will restore access up to 18 weeks for any reason and thereafter has exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly, and life and health of the mother. The amendment had no support from national groups like Planned Parenthood or the ACLU because it didn’t allow for abortions up to the point of viability. However, polling showed that anything over 18 weeks simply wouldn’t pass in deep red Arkansas, and the amendment will cover 99% of abortions that do occur. States surrounding Arkansas like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee currently have restrictive abortion bans. Should the Arkansas amendment make it on the ballot and pass in November (new polling shows that it will), women in surround states will have options that they currently don’t.
Arkansas is one of the few southern states to allow citizen-initiated referendums. However, in 2023 the legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot that would make the process more difficult, increasing the number of qualifying counties from 15 to 50. The citizens of Arkansas soundly defeated the proposed amendment, but the legislature defied the clear will of the people and changed the constitution in their next legislative session. A lawsuit is currently pending challenging the 50-county requirement. Despite this, organizers qualified 54 counties and submitted 10,000 signatures over the total state-wide requirement.
Opponents of the amendment, which included lawmakers, the Family Council, and preachers, harassed, followed, and doxed canvassers at every step. We were called names and threatened, but that didn’t dissuade the canvassers or those who wanted to sign. While we were met with a lot of ugliness, we also saw the best of Arkansas. We had meaningful conversations with signers, who shared stories of their own rapes, of miscarriages, of difficult pregnancies, and of their lack of ability to choose whether to continue a pregnancy or not.
Because there was very little financial support, this effort was volunteer led. I was acutely aware of the lack of big money donation because I had the honor of serving as treasurer of the ballot question committee. Now back to those volunteers. I listened to my wife, who was one of several lead organizers for the field team, on late night Zoom calls strategizing and organizing. Volunteers carried out those strategies with unbelievable passion and determination. While we were able to cobble together some funds for paid canvassers, volunteers collected nearly 85% of the required number of signatures.
Soon we’ll begin preparing for the next phase of the battle as The Family Council has promised to file lawsuits, and we expect national opposition groups will pour millions into defeating this measure. But this weekend, the over 800 volunteers who made this possible are celebrating this success and getting some much deserved rest. If you’d like to support our efforts in Arkansas, here’s a link https://arliberty.org/donate/.
