UPDATE: Ark. Supreme Court rules on two campaign joining suit against SOS

Little Rock, AR– The Arkansas Supreme Court has allowed two groups to be involved in the lawsuit against Arkansas Secretary of State, John Thurston over his decision to deny an abortion amendment to be on the ballot.

In a recent ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court, they allowed the campaigns for the proposed medical marijuana amendment and the proposed casino amendment to join a lawsuit against the Arkansas Secretary of State.

It was a 4-3 decision. With the dissenting judges saying it could hurt the respective campaigns.

A ballot question committee known as Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG) is suing the Arkansas Secretary of State for denying signatures, that put the groups proposed abortion amendment under the amount of needed signatures to get on the ballot.

John Thurston, the Arkansas Sec. of State claimed the group failed to turn in a statement the said AFLG gave their paid canvassers a copy of the latest handbook on initiatives and referenda and had briefed the canvassers on state laws relevant to canvassing.

According to documents, the document turned in had the signature of Allison Clark, a staffer for the canvassing company the group hired. Thurston says that is must be the groups sponsor.

That claim puts Arkansans for Limited Government down by more than 14,000 signatures, meaning the group is under the amount needed for the proposed amendment to be on the ballot.

Now, the group claims to have found differences in the way there amendment was handled, compared to the proposed medical marijuana and casino amendment.

The proposed amendment would not allow the Arkansas government to control abortion, for the first 18 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy, but after the only acceptations would be for in cases of rape, in cases of incest, in the event of a fatal fetal anomaly. The amendment goes on to say that an abortion will also be allowed after the given 18 weeks if in a physician’s good-faith medical judgment, abortion services are needed to protect a pregnant female’s life or to protect a pregnant female from a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury.