Ark.]
463
ARKANSAS WOMEN'S POLITICAL CAUCUS v. The Honorable Paul RIVIERE, Secretary of State, State of Arkansas; THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS of the State of Arkansas; and THE COUNTY BOARDS OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS
The UNBORN CHILD AMENDMENT COMMITTEE, Intervenor
84-215
677 S.W.2d 846
Supreme Court of Arkansas
Opinion delivered October 24, 1984
- CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—ABORTION—U.S. CONSTITUTION PROTECTS A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO HAVE AN ABORTION.—The United States Supreme Court has held that the Constitution protects a woman's right to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy and that a state may not unduly burden the exercise of a woman's fundamental right to obtain an abortion.
- CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—ABORTION—PUBLIC FUNDING OF ELECTIVE ABORTIONS FOR POVERTY STRICKEN WOMEN NOT REQUIRED BY FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OR STATUTES.—Neither the United States Constitution nor federal statutes require public funding of elective abortions for poverty stricken women.
- CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—ABORTION—STATE CONSTITUTION ALLOWS ENACTMENT OF STATUTES PERMITTING ABORTION AND PAYMENT THEREFOR FROM PUBLIC FUNDS.—The Arkansas Constitution, through its silence on the subject of abortions, presently allows a statute to provide that a woman and her physician may make the choice under certain circumstances [Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-2554 (Repl. 1977)]; it also allows the state, if it chooses, to treat abortion as an accepted medical procedure under Medicaid type programs.
- CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—INITIATIVE & REFERENDUM—RIGHT OF CITIZENS TO INITIATE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.—Ark. Const., Amend. 7, gives all citizens of the State of Arkansas the right to initiate constitutional amendments.
- CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—INITIATIVE & REFERENDUM—BALLOT TITLES AND POPULAR NAMES OF PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS—TEST USED IN DETERMINING VALIDITY.—It is the duty of the Arkansas Supreme Court to see that ballot titles
