Page:Arkansas Women's Political Caucus v. Riviere.pdf/4

466 question of whether state laws could validly prohibit governmental funding of medically necessary abortions.

The original action now before us is a continuation of the abortion controversy at the state level. On one side, the intervenor, The Unborn Child Amendment Committee, desires to amend the Arkansas Constitution to adopt a policy limiting abortion, not only from viability, but from conception. The intervenor would also prohibit the use of public funds for abortion, directly or indirectly, unless it was for the purpose of saving the woman's life. On the other side, the petitioners, the Arkansas Womens Political Caucus, desires to maintain the present silence of the Constitution of Arkansas on the subject. That silence allows a statute to provide that a woman and her physician may make the choice under certain circumstances. See Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-2554. It allows the state, if it chooses, to treat abortion as an accepted medical procedure under Medicaid type programs.

Amendment 7 to the Constitution of Arkansas gives all citizens of this state the right to initiate constitutional amendments. The intervenor, Unborn Child Amendment Committee, seeks to exercise that right. They have drafted a proposed amendment, a proposed popular name and a proposed ballot title. They have submitted the proposed popular name and ballot title to the Attorney General for approval. See Ark. Stat. Ann. § 2-208 (Repl. 1976 and Supp. 1983). The Attorney General has ruled that the popular name and title are not misleading and has approved them for circulation. They have circulated initiative petitions and the Secretary of State has determined that they had obtained sufficient signatures in order to have the initiated proposed amendment on the November 6, 1984, ballot.

The petitioner contends that the ballot title and popular name are partial and misleading to the extent that the electorate will be deceived. Our standard of review for these actions is clear. It is the duty of this court to see that ballot titles and popular names are (1) intelligible, (2) honest, and (3) impartial. Leigh v. Hall, 232 Ark. 558, 339 S.W.2d 104 (1960).