Arkansas Amendment 3, Prohibit Public Funds for Abortions and State Policy Initiative (1988)

Arkansas Amendment 3
Election date November 8, 1988
Topic Abortion
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

Arkansas Amendment 3 was on the ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment in Arkansas on November 8, 1988. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported banning the use of state funds for abortion, except in cases where a pregnant woman's life is threatened.

A "no" vote opposed banning the use of state funds for abortion, except in cases where a pregnant woman's life is threatened.

Election results

Arkansas Amendment 3
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		398,107	51.96%
No		368,117	48.04%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Measure design

See also: Text of measure

The initiative added an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that prohibited state funds from being used to fund abortions, except in cases that threatened the life of a pregnant woman.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Amendment 3 was as follows:

“

A proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution stating that no public funds will be used to pay for any abortion, except to save the mother's life; that the policy of Arkansas is to protect the life of every unborn child from conception until birth, to the extent permitted by the federal constitution; and that this amendment will not affect contraceptives or require an appropriation of public funds.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Support

Supporters

Organizations

• Unborn Child Committee

Arguments

• Jerry Cox of the Unborn Child Committee: "We are not trying to be gadflies. We are trying to do something that we believe in very strongly. If it takes trying three or four times, then we're prepared to try, and keep on trying until we accomplish what we've set out to do."

Opposition

Opponents

Organizations

• Planned Parenthood of Arkansas

Arguments

• Steve Engstrom, attorney for Planned Parenthood of Arkansas: "There is no denying it, unquestionably, this amendment would prohibit all abortions, including those after rape or incest. The people of Arkansas would be stuck with an extreme position."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing ballot measures in Arkansas

Citizens in Arkansas have the power of initiative. This ballot measure was placed on the ballot through an initiative petition. In Arkansas, 10% of legal voters may propose a constitutional amendment by initiative petition.

See also

1988 Measures

• 1988 Measures
• Abortion policy on the ballot
• 1988 legislative sessions

Arkansas

• Arkansas ballot measures
• Arkansas ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls