Arkansas Supreme Court Blocks Abortion Initiative

The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled against a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at expanding abortion rights in the state, effectively preventing it from appearing on the November ballot. In a 4-3 decision, the court upheld Secretary of State John Thurston's rejection of signatures collected by paid canvassers due to the failure of the group, Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG), to submit the required certification paperwork together with their petition. Despite gathering over 102,000 signatures, the group fell short of the legally necessary 90,704 valid signatures after the court ruled that signatures collected by paid canvassers could not be counted. Dissenting justices criticized the ruling as an infringement on voter rights, while abortion rights supporters lamented the decision as a setback in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that removed federal protections for abortion. The court's decision reinforces the challenges faced by abortion rights proponents in Arkansas, a state with strong anti-abortion sentiments among its leadership.