The Arkansas Secretary of State this week rejected petitions submitted to place a pro-abortion measure on that state’s ballot this fall. The office rejected the proposal, saying that the abortion group did not submit all of the required paperwork with its signatures.
In a letter to Arkansas for Limited Government—the group spearheading the initiative—Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said the group did not provide statements confirming that it had explained various requirements of the signature-gathering process to the paid canvassers and failed to identify all paid canvassers.
This lack of documentation affected 14,143 of the more than 100,000 signatures submitted, leaving the effort short of the 90,700 needed to put the initiative on the ballot. Representatives for Arkansas for Limited Government have indicated that they plan to challenge the decision.
This comes as multiple states, including Missouri, face similar efforts to enshrine abortion rights in their constitutions. Abortion supporters in Missouri have submitted over 380,000 signatures to put a pro-abortion constitutional amendment on the ballot. Local election authorities are currently reviewing the validity of the signatures. After that review, the secretary of state will determine whether there are enough valid signatures to place the petition on the November ballot.
During this review, the MCC continues to encourage the faithful to pray that the effort is unsuccessful and to educate their family, friends, and fellow parishioners about the dangers of the ballot initiative. The MCC has set up a webpage with resources on the abortion initiative that you can review and share. In addition, MCC staff members are available to speak to parishes and pro-life groups about the initiative.