Attorney General Griffin praises Arkansas Supreme Court's rejection of motion brought by convicted felon of Little Rock

Griffin offered the following statement:

“Convicted felon Oscar Stilley’s emergency motion sought to resurrect the abortion amendment ballot petition by compelling the Secretary of State to provisionally certify it for the November general election. I applaud the Arkansas Supreme Court’s decision to deny Stilley’s motion as moot after the court had correctly denied the attempt by the sponsor of the abortion amendment to get on the ballot.

“Stilley has no legal standing to bring this lawsuit in the first place. In fact, his filings have made it clear that he cares more about re-litigating his federal felony conviction. This attempt to retry his conviction has done nothing but waste the court’s time and taxpayers’ money.”

To read a copy of the court’s rejection of the motion, click here.

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

Arkansas Secretary of State defends rejection of proposed abortion amendment

KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston continued to argue in a court filing Monday that a ballot question committee did not file required paperwork when it submitted a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a limited right to abortion.

Thurston’s filing was in compliance with a state Supreme Court order on Friday that his office respond to a complaint filed July 6 by Arkansans for Limited Government.

The response denied most of the allegations in AFLG’s July 16 legal complaint and reiterated many of Thurston’s previous reasons for rejecting the proposed amendment, which the ballot question committee submitted to his office July 5 with more than 102,000 signatures.

Arkansas Secretary of State defends rejection of proposed abortion amendment

Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

A supporter of the Arkansas Abortion Amendment holds up a sign in an Arkansas Capitol hallway while petitions to put the amendment on the November ballot are delivered in boxes to the Secretary of State on Friday, July 5, 2024.

Abortion amendment volunteer signature count falls short of threshold

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

An Arkansas abortion advocacy group does not have enough signatures to put an amendment legalizing the procedure on the November ballot.

On Thursday, Leslie Bellamy on behalf of the secretary of state's office signed an affidavit saying the group only collected 87,675 signatures. This is less than the over 90,000 signatures needed to put the amendment on the ballot. 912 other signatures were thrown out on a technicality.

The signatures were gathered by Arkansas For Limited Government, a group aiming to pass an amendment in Arkansas to legalize abortion up to the 18th week of pregnancy.

Abortion amendment volunteer signature count falls short of threshold

Attorney general requests dismissal of Arkansas Abortion Amendment lawsuit

KUAR | By Mary Hennigan / Arkansas Advocate

Attorney General Tim Griffin on Friday filed a motion asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Secretary of State John Thurston’s recent rejection of the proposed Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024.

Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG), the ballot question committee supporting the proposed constitutional amendment, filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to order Thurston to count the more than 101,000 signatures the group submitted in support of the measure on July 5.

The group also asked the court to expedite the case with a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction overruling Thurston’s decision not to count the signatures.

Attorney general requests dismissal of Arkansas Abortion Amendment lawsuit

Courtesy Photo/Facebook

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin

Pro-choice group sues Arkansas Secretary of State

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

A pro-choice group is suing Secretary of State John Thurston over a recent decision to toss out signatures gathered in support of loosening the state's strict abortion laws. They plan to take the case to the state supreme court. Arkansans For Limited Government put forward an amendment that, if approved by voters, would have legalized abortion in Arkansas up to the 18th week of pregnancy. The group collected over 101 thousand signatures, exceeding the baseline of 90 thousand. 14 thousand were collected by paid canvassers.

Secretary of State John Thurston threw out the signatures over a technicality several days later, saying the group broke Arkansas’ strict laws about paid canvassers when submitting paperwork.

Thurston said he was missing two documents. In a letter sent to the group on July 10th, he said he was missing a list of paid canvassers names and evidence they had read the handbook. He later said the group had turned in the paperwork too early.

Pro-choice group sues Arkansas Secretary of State

Courts.Arkansas.Gov/Courts.Arkansas.Gov

Supporters of an effort to legalize abortion in Arkansas filled suit in the state supreme court.

Arkansas group collecting signatures to roll back abortion ban

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

A group in Arkansas has less than 150 days to collect enough signatures to put abortion on the ballot in 2024.

For AR People is a nonprofit advocacy group organizing the effort to pass the Arkansas Abortion Amendment. This law would legalize abortion for up to 18 weeks of pregnancy or in cases of rape or incest.

Abortion became illegal in June of 2022, after Roe v. Wade was overturned. At that time, a trigger law went into effect which banned all abortions in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.

The amendment was originally put forth by the group Arkansans for Limited Government, a ballot question committee formed by For AR People. After several failed attempts, Attorney General Tim Griffin approved the ballot title in January. For AR People is required to collect over 90,000 signatures from across the state in under 150 days to place it on the November ballot.

Arkansas group collecting signatures to roll back abortion ban

Meg Kelly/NPR

Arkansans for Limited Government has until July 5 to collect all the needed signatures to place an amendment rolling back the state's abortion restrictions on the November ballot.

AG Griffin approves abortion amendment ballot title with changes

Attorney General Tim Griffin approved Tuesday (Jan. 23) a proposed constitutional amendment to provide exceptions for abortions in Arkansas, but he made two changes to the proposal.

The proposed constitutional amendment – known as the Arkansas Abortion Amendment – would prevent the state from restricting access to abortion up to 18 weeks after conception or in the instance of rape or incest, fatal fetal anomaly, or when abortion is needed to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health.

“Having reviewed the text of your proposed constitutional amendment, as well as your proposed popular name and ballot title, my statutory duty at this stage is to substitute and certify the popular name and ballot title indicated below. With regard to your proposed ballot title, I believe the following minor changes are necessary to ensure that the ballot title clearly and accurately sets forth the purpose of your proposed initiated amendment to the Arkansas Constitution,” Griffin said.

You can read Griffin’s opinion letter here.

AG Griffin approves abortion amendment ballot title with changes