Organizers of an effort to scale back Arkansas' abortion ban said they have more than enough signatures to try to put their proposal before voters in November's election.
Arkansans for Limited Government submitted petitions and said they turned in more than the 90,704 signatures from registered voters needed to qualify. Election officials now must begin checking the validity of the signatures.
The submission brings to six the number of states where election officials are validating signatures on abortion measures. They’re already on the ballot in another five, plus a proposed amendment in New York that would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes.”
Supporters of other abortion measures in Arizona and Nebraska submitted petitions in their respective states on Wednesday.
The fate of the measures could reshape or confirm the trendlines that have developed in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion.
Since the ruling, most Republican-controlled states have new abortion restrictions in effect, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access.
Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022 have sided with abortion rights supporters, including California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont.
Related story: Abortion measures could be on Arizona and Nebraska ballots after organizers submit signatures