Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to expand abortion access in Arkansas filled the Capitol lobby Friday afternoon and cheered as movers delivered boxes of petitions to put the amendment on a statewide ballot in November.
The group behind the proposed amendment announced Friday afternoon that it had passed the minimum threshold for county and state-level votes to qualify for the ballot.
Arkansans for Limited Government more than 100,000 signatures delivered from 53 provinces, more than the required 90,704 signatures from 50 provinces, at the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs before the deadline of Friday 5 p.m.
“A lot of people across the country see the South as a lost cause, and I think we’ve proven that with this many signatures, we can make change here and protect reproductive rights here,” said medical student Margaret Woodruff, who had the words “future abortion provider” taped to a white lab coat.
The measure still must await formal certification by the secretary of state and then survive expected legal challenges before it can be put before voters in November.
AFLG issued a statement on Friday expressing its gratitude to voters and its belief that “health care is personal and private.”
“Bodily autonomy and the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship are values that transcend partisan politics, economics, and religion,” the statement said. “Health care decisions, including reproductive health decisions, should be made between patients and their health care team.”
The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would not allow government agencies to “prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion services within 18 weeks of conception.” The proposal would also allow abortion services in cases of rape, incest, a lethal fetal abnormality, or to “protect the life or physical health of the pregnant woman,” and it would invalidate any existing “provisions of the Constitution, statutes, and common law” of the state that conflict with it.
Abortion has been illegal in Arkansas since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, except to save the life of the pregnant woman.
Supporters of the amendment held signs Friday with slogans such as “Trust Women,” “The People Rule” and “Arkansans Know Best.”
The group chanted “This is what democracy looks like” and “I know my body” and cheered repeatedly as the movers, flanked by Capitol Police, carried more and more boxes, labeled by county, into the committee room where the secretary of state’s office will count and verify the signatures.
Alison Guthrie, activist and campaigner for the amendment, said she had to hold back tears during the presentation, especially as around 20,000 signatures had been collected since Monday.
“It definitely feels surreal,” she said. “It kind of feels like justice. … It’s just an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Everyone has worked so hard, so it’s motivating and inspiring, and it makes me feel a lot more hopeful about Arkansas.”
Arkansans for Limited Government was about 10,000 short of the minimum signatures at the beginning of the week, but made a major effort to gather signatures at the last minute, including on Independence Day when an e-mail claiming to be from the organization, caused confusion by stating that signatures were no longer needed. AFLG quickly alerted supporters that the misleading email did not come from them and encouraged people to continue signing petitions.
Supporters of the Arkansas Abortion Amendment faced a number of challenges during the campaign, including a “Decline to Sign” campaign to encourage voters not to sign petitions in favor of the amendment. The campaign was led by anti-abortion groups Arkansas Right to Life and the Family Council, the latter of which posted on its website a list of 79 people who had been paid by AFLG to collect signatures.
AFLG called the post attempted intimidation; the Family Council has since removed the list from the post, but has kept it publicly available on the political action committee’s website. Obtaining and publishing the list is legal under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
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The Family Council Action Committee announced Friday that it will support legal action against the abortion amendment if it passes in November.
Stronger Arkansas, a voting committee whose members have close ties to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, also opposed the proposed amendment. Sanders’ former gubernatorial campaign manager Chris Caldwell heads the group, which said in a statement that Arkansas will remain “the most pro-life state in America” in 2024.
“Only 5% of registered voters signed the radical petition pro-abortion up to birth, and we are confident that Hillary Clinton and her far-left allies in New York and California will be defeated when we hear from the other 95%,” the statement said.
Opponents of the amendment held their own signs at the Capitol on Friday, reading “Refuse to Sign,” “Pray to End Abortion,” and “Life: The First Inalienable Right.” The two groups had little interaction throughout the afternoon. Supporters of the measure outnumbered opponents.
Jo Ann Craig, who opposed the amendment, said she was saddened to see so much support for the amendment and hoped for “a great conversion of everyone’s heart.”
“I honestly thought that people from outside our state had manipulated our state (because) they wanted to get their signatures,” Craig said. “…If they’re not being scammed and they know exactly what they’re doing, that makes me sad.”
Opponents and supporters of Arkansas’ abortion amendment gather at the state Capitol on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
A unique challenge for the Arkansas Abortion Amendment is a lack of national support. Although several states have passed citizen-led abortion rights initiatives in the past two years and more people are making similar attemptsArkansas has been controversial among reproductive justice advocates because it would restore an abortion policy that is more restrictive than Roe v. Wade. For this reason, major national abortion rights groups have not been involved in promoting or funding the campaign, Slate reported.
“We have never left ourselves out, and I hope we have shown the world that reproductive freedom is a winning issue, even in seemingly unexpected places,” AFLG spokesperson Rebecca Bobrow said in an email Friday. “We have been people-driven from start to finish, and today’s success is a hopeful testament to the tireless and courageous work of our 800-plus volunteers, who have often carried the burden of our doubters and naysayers.”
After overcoming six months of obstacles, AFLG on Friday acknowledged the achievements it had made, but also the additional work that still needed to be done.
“We are proud of our fellow Arkansans for rejecting the state’s extreme abortion ban and taking the first, important step to protect pregnant women now and in the future,” AFLG said in a statement. “Today we celebrate our achievements, but on Monday we get back to work, because women’s lives are at stake. The greatest task lies ahead of us, and we will not fail.”
Woodruff and another medical student, Cat Davis, said the likelihood of the amendment on the ballot in November gave them hope, not only for their future careers, but also for the health care landscape of Arkansas and the South. The amendment could help combat Arkansas’s infant and maternal mortality rates, which data has shown are among the highest in the country, Woodruff said.
In addition, fewer medical students have attempted to practice in states with abortion bans since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a study released in early May by the Association of American Medical Colleges Research and Action Institute.
“We need good providers in Arkansas, and I think this (amendment) is a good step in that direction,” Davis said.
