Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel today rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban some abortions in Arkansas.
McDaniel cited ambiguities in the measure submitted by Personhood Arkansas and said the text was misleading as to the relationship between the measure and federal law.
For example, the attorney general said, the ballot title makes no mention that the measure would prohibit the use of public funds for abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger and would authorize the Legislature to prohibit abortion under any circumstances to the extent permitted under
the U.S. Constitution.
“Yet, the popular name makes no reference whatsoever to this emotionally charged subject,” McDaniel said, calling the measure’s name — The Paramount Right to Life — “a clear-cut example of the partisan coloring of ballots which we have uniformly condemned in our decisions holding that a ballot name must be fair and impartial.”
The attorney general also cited as ambiguous a provision in the measure ensuring “the right to life” to every “innocent person … including the unborn, at every stage of development.”
McDaniel said the measure failed to acknowledge that its adoption would directly flout controlling law by the U.S. Supreme Court that a state law purporting to ban abortion at any stage of gestation except to save the life of the mother cannot pass constitutional muster.
The president of Personhood Arkansas, Preston Dunn Jr., of Blytheville, said late this afternoon that he had not read the attorney general’s opinion and would reserve comment on it. But he said his group would address issues raised in the opinion and resubmit the proposal.
“We are determined. We will try to overcome any obstacles that come before us,” Dunn said. “It’s important to us that this language gets into our constitution. It’s time to ask the people of Arkansas to take a stand for life.”
If the proposal is ultimately certified by the attorney general, Personhood Arkansas would have until July 6 to collect 78,133 signatures to place the proposed amendment on the November ballot.
January 5th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Pro-choice simply means that, Pro-CHOICE. It seems that those who are pro-life, who say “women deserve better” and claim that they are the side actually helping women, want to convince us that 1-1=MORE CHOICES. There are only two ways to become “unpregnant” if you will. The pregnancy either is aborted (whether that is a spontaneous or induced abortion) or you give birth. Adoption is not the answer to an unwanted pregnancy, giving up a child for adoption is an alternative to parenting said born child.
In addition, it is not the job of other women to be incubators for those people who are unable to conceive and bear offspring. It may sound cold or callous to some, but I don’t care. It is not my duty to have infants for those who cannot.
The abortion debate truly falls down to the idea of bodily autonomy. Who owns your body? I don’t want any debates about how we really don’t own ourselves, God owns us, because not everyone believes in God or the same God. If you feel that way, you are welcome to never drink, get a tattoo, get an abortion, have pre-marital sex, never have sex at all, whatever.
I own my body. The government does not own my body. My husband does not own my body. You do not own my body. My mom does not own my body. As a result, no one, nothing, can use my body for any purpose against my will. My husband cannot demand sex from me, and if we are in the middle of sex and I demand him to stop, he must stop. My mom cannot demand one of my kidneys or a lobe of my liver to save herself. The government cannot take my blood from me unless I consent, even though I am a regular blood donor as it is. Even if I did bear a child, I would not be under any sort of legal obligation to provide bone marrow, a kidney, a lobe of my liver, blood, in the event the child was injured or sick.
So why is it that we want to take those same rights away from women once they become pregnant? Why do we feel the need to tell women that they no longer have bodily autonomy, that they need to give up control of their bodies for “just a short 9 months” and then they can be free? I call it nonsense. I don’t care if a woman had sex with every single man in town without any sort of protection, she still does not give up her right to bodily autonomy. Consent exists on a spectrum, and a person who wants to be pregnant gives consent to the zygote/embryo/fetus to be there all through her pregnancy. Pregnancy should not be a punishment. People seem to want to shut their eyes to the fact that NO, pregnancy is not always lollipops and puppy dogs. Some women die from pregnancy related complications. The body goes through a whole mess of changes. You cannot do all of the same things you once did, especially if you’re unfortunate enough to have complications that require you to to be on bed rest. If this is what someone chooses and accepts, more power to them. If not, then I fully support that person’s right to have an abortion if they so choose. I would never judge a person for the circumstances that led up to them becoming pregnant and aborting. Slut shaming is ridiculous and needs to go. Telling women they will be forever broken if they have an abortion is horrible, and people should be ashamed of themselves. If you’ve ever done this, perhaps it is YOU who has made this woman broken? Words hurt. Words have meaning. Words can stick with you long after any physical problems have gone.
If someone does not want to have an abortion, I would never tell them they had to. Having an abortion is something that a person must be comfortable with, and a choice they must want. No one should ever feel that having an abortion is their only choice, especially if they want to continue the pregnancy and have a child. This is what pro-choice is being about, giving women the power to make a decision for themselves without being forced by any other interested party. Did you know there are people out there who feel that people shouldn’t have the option to give their children up for adoption and shouldn’t have the right to an abortion? What makes their views any less valid than the normal, every day pro-lifers? Why shouldn’t we do what they say? How many people are with me on that?
I respect your right to be pregnant, to not be pregnant, to be a parent, to not be a parent, to give a child up for adoption, to adopt a child yourself, to use birth control, to have access to birth control, to have an abortion, or to not have an abortion, and to make choices that you are comfortable with in your life. All I ask is that people extend the same courtesy to me and others.