Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday rejected a proposed popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment that would overhaul the state's restrictive abortion law.
A ballot committee, Arkansans for Limited Government, has proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the state from restricting 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 woman's life or health.
Arkansas' current law bans abortions except to the save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.
The ballot committee's proposed constitutional amendment with a proposed popular name and a proposed ballot title was submitted to Griffin's office Nov. 9. The proposed popular name is The Arkansas Reproductive Healthcare Amendment.
The Republican attorney general's options included certifying the popular name and ballot title as submitted, rejecting the entire submission, giving the reasons for the rejection and instructing the sponsor to redesign the measure, or substituting and certifying a more appropriate popular name or ballot title.
Griffin said in a letter dated Tuesday to Steven Nichols of Little Rock that, having reviewed the text of the proposed constitutional amendment as well as the proposed popular name and ballot title, "I must reject your popular name and ballot title due to ambiguities in the text of your proposed measure that prevent me from ensuring that the ballot title you have submitted, or any ballot title that I would substitute, is not misleading."
Griffin cited various issues with four sections of the proposed constitutional amendment.
In addition, Griffin said the proposed popular name "is tinged with partisan coloring and misleading because your proposal is solely related to abortion, not 'reproductive healthcare' generally.
"Therefore, in the future, if your propos[ed] measure were at the stage where it could be certified, I would have to substitute and certify a different popular name," he said. "I am flagging this for you now so you can provide an alternative if you would like."
Griffin also said, "You have made no attempt to describe your proposal's effect on existing constitutional law.
"For example, you make no effort to articulate how your proposal would relate to Amendment 68 to our constitution," he wrote in his letter to Nichols. "It seems plausible that even if your proposal were enacted in its current form, portions of Amendment 68 would remain. Since the Arkansas Supreme Court has declared that voters are entitled to some information on how the proposed measure would change current law, some such information would need to be provided."
Under Section 1 of the proposed constitutional amendment, the government of the state of Arkansas, its officers or its political subdivisions "shall not prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict 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."
Griffin said this time frame is keyed to fetal age, which begins at conception.
"But most court cases, medical providers, and most citizens count the weeks of pregnancy using gestational age, which begins from the date of the woman's last menstrual cycle, not from the date of conception," he wrote in his letter to Nichols.
"When counting from the more standard starting point, the reference to '18 weeks' is closer to '20 weeks,' " Griffin said. "This difference in timing could be misleading to voters and would certainly give them serious ground for reflection. This is not a basis to reject your proposal as misleading. But if your proposal were at the stage where it could be certified, I would have to substitute language in your ballot title to flag for all voters that the time frame for government regulation would begin at 20 weeks gestational age."
The Arkansans for Limited Government committee said in a written statement that it was notified Tuesday morning about of the attorney general's opinion rejecting the proposed amendment.
"We appreciate the Attorney General's thorough review of and impartial response to the amendment's language," according to the committee chaired by doctor Hershey Garner.
"We are also heartened by the overwhelming support we have received from Arkansans across the state, including pledges to sign a future petition in favor of the Arkansas Reproductive Healthcare Amendment," the committee said. "Residents want sensible reproductive policy, and Arkansans for Limited Government will begin work immediately with the amendment drafter to craft a revised amendment. We are committed to supporting a ballot proposal that is clear for Arkansas voters."
Certifying the proposal's popular name and ballot title would clear the way for the Arkansans for Limited Government ballot committee to begin collecting signatures of registered voters in an effort to qualify the proposed constitutional amendment for the 2024 general election ballot.
Sponsors of proposed constitutional amendments are required to submit 90,704 signatures of registered voters to the secretary of state's office by July 5, 2024. The total must include signatures from registered voters in at least 50 counties, according to the secretary of state's office.
Regarding the proposed constitutional amendment, Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Monday in a written statement, "The Left wants the government to play doctor when it comes to gender science experiments on kids and vaccine mandates but apparently draws the line when government prevents the taking of an innocent human life."
"That's complete hypocrisy -- and disproves their whole claim to stand for 'limited government,'" Henning said. "Governor Sanders is proud that Arkansas is the most pro-life state in the country and intends to keep it that way."
The ballot committee responded Monday night in a written statement, "Unfortunately, this rhetoric is what happens when we polarize a personal issue like this. We trust Arkansans to know what's best for themselves and their families. The government doesn't need to be involved."
On June 24, 2022, then-Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge implemented a 2019 state law that bans abortions in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark ruling that legalized abortion across the country.
Rutledge, a Republican who is now lieutenant governor, certified that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, in accordance with Act 180 of 2019. That in turn certified Arkansas' trigger law on abortion.
The GOP-dominated Legislature and then-Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson enacted Act 180 in the 2019 regular session. Act 180, sponsored by then-Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, is called the Arkansas Human Life Protection Act.