Arkansas attorney general rejects ‘misleading’ abortion ballot measure wording
Breccan F. Thies
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Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has rejected the wording for the title of an abortion ballot measure aimed at expanding access to the procedure in the state.
Griffin, a Republican, called some of the wording “tinged with partisan coloring and misleading” because the proposal “is solely related to abortion, not ‘reproductive healthcare’ generally.”
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The opinion comes as supporters of legal abortion have found success in multiple states with ballot initiatives aimed at reversing legislative restrictions on abortion since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
“Deception is the common theme in every abortion ballot measure. Abortion activists have repeatedly used unclear language to mislead voters into embedding unlimited abortion in their state constitutions,” Kelsey Pritchard, SBA Pro-Life America state public affairs director, said in a statement. “Because Americans do not support second- and third-trimester abortions, Big Abortion must funnel millions into ads that lie about what these amendments actually do in order to be successful.”
Arkansans for Limited Government submitted a proposed amendment to the state constitution on Nov. 9, calling it the “Arkansas Reproductive Healthcare Amendment,” the title in question in the legal dispute alongside other phrases throughout the text of the proposal.
The amendment, as written, would prohibit the state government from “restrict[ing] access to abortion within 18 weeks of conception, or in cases of rape, incest, in the event of a fatal fetal anomaly, or when abortion is needed to protect the pregnant female’s life or health.”
Current Arkansas law prohibits abortion except in instances to save the life of the mother.
Griffin’s authority to certify wording for ballot measures does not take into account the merits of the proposals’ content, but his seven-page rejection pointed to numerous instances of potentially “misleading” wording that would need to be resolved before moving onto the process of collecting signatures to gain ballot access.
“Is your intent to limit government action regarding abortion itself or regarding access to abortion?” he stated. “The ballot title would need to describe the nature of the restriction you intend to propose. Because of this lack of clarity, I am unable to say that your ballot title is not misleading.”
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Griffin also drew a distinction between a pregnant woman’s physical and mental “health,” a difference cited by many who do not support abortion access because the distinction could permit late-term abortions by way of mental health diagnoses.
The ballot committee said it “appreciate[d] the attorney general’s thorough review of and impartial response to the amendment’s language,” according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and added it would “begin work immediately with the amendment drafter to craft a revised amendment.”