Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, voters have chosen to protect the right to abortion in each of the seven states where abortion measures have been on the ballot. With abortion rights and access coming up for a vote in 10 more states in November, Reproaction has been keeping our eyes on abortion opponents, who for months have harassed and sought to intimidate petitioners who gathered signatures to put these ballot measures in front of voters.

We’re particularly concerned about petitioner harassment and intimidation in four states: Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, and Montana. Abortion opponents’ tactics in these states have included disrupting petitioning drives, recording and following petitioners, and sharing petitioners’ personal information online.

Arkansas petitioners have been subjected to some of the most egregious examples of these tactics. In June 2024, an anti-abortion group doxxed paid petitioners of the Arkansas amendment in support of abortion rights by posting their names and hometowns online. [1][2] This is especially concerning in light of the fact that anti-abortion protesters in Arkansas repeatedly turned up to petitioning drives to harass petitioners and signers. Petitioners for the Arkansas abortion measure reported that protestors argued with and yelled at them, pestered people trying to sign the petition, and refused to leave when asked.[3]

There have also been reports of anti-abortion protesters wearing body cameras and following petitioners after leaving a petitioning site. An account from 73-year-old Mary Lowe, reported by The 19th, describes menacing behavior from an abortion opponent there:

“An anti-abortion man started engaging with her in a hostile manner. Lowe tried to de-escalate the situation by packing up her materials and leaving for the day, but the man followed her to two separate restaurants.

Lowe, not wanting to return to her car, said the man followed her another 30 minutes, still accosting her, until she got to a city administration building where she was able to flag down a firefighter, who gave her the phone number for the police department.” [3]

On another occasion, police were called to an intersection where people were petitioning for the abortion measure on a public sidewalk. One police officer was caught on video wrongly claiming that Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not want them petitioning at that location. [1]

Ultimately, despite the measure sponsor collecting enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, the Arkansas Secretary of State disqualified the measure for a minor paperwork error, a decision upheld by the Arkansas Supreme Court. [4] It’s worth noting that the Arkansas Secretary of State, John Thurston, is not a neutral actor and has ties to anti-abortion groups: He has given money to and been endorsed by Arkansas Right to Life and participated in the Arkansas March for Life in January 2024. [5]

In Arizona, petitioners in support of the abortion rights amendment have been interrupted, filmed, and had security called to stop their petitioning efforts. With anti-abortion groups such as Arizona Right to Life, Center for Arizona Policy, and Students for Life serving as central coordination, activists have engaged in a range of activities including showing up at locations where petitioners were tabling and pestering people trying to sign the petition while holding up signs with lies about the proposed amendment. One source reported that anti-abortion protesters were tracking the location of petitioners on Telegram. [6] On their website, the umbrella It Goes Too Far campaign leading opposition to the measure also included a tool to report the location of petitioners. The website requested that people “Please let us know where you have seen them so we can get there and share information about the extreme amendment.” The website also provided a list of addresses and locations, and in some cases schedules for when reproductive rights petitioners were expected to be present.

Example of reporting circulators gathering signatures form. Image by itgoestoofar.com/declinetosign

In Missouri, similar cases of harassment have been reported by petitioners for the state’s abortion rights measure. In one instance, a state senator showed up at a public library to protest petitioners and tell people not to sign the petition. The senator then called the police on a petitioner who stepped off the sidewalk and into the parking lot of the library to let someone read the petition. [7] Like the opposition campaign in Arizona, a decline-to-sign campaign in Missouri also set up a tip line for “report[ing] signature-gatherers.” [8]

In Montana, the group leading opposition to that state’s abortion rights ballot initiative has paid for equipment, travel, and training for people to record petitioners in Montana on camera. [9] One of the organizers of the opposition campaign indicated that this approach was expressly intended to intimidate and deter petitioners and would-be signers when he admitted, “Them not getting out and actually signing up every person that comes by, because they are actually trying to walk away from our people or get away from the camera, prevents them from getting signatures … When we multiply this across multiple people doing this in each county where they’re at, we can stop them from getting this on the ballot.” [10]

These harassment and intimidation efforts demonstrate a clear commitment to undermining the American principle of democracy on the part of abortion opponents and anti-abortion politicians and state officials to prevent voters from weighing in on abortion rights at the state level. [11] As has long been the case, abortion opponents are willing to harass, intimidate, and threaten the safety of abortion advocates to achieve their goals. [12]

Harassment from opponents of abortion rights measures will likely get worse each year, and abortion advocates should be prepared to face it. While the best strategies for success and safety will vary by location, advocates can mitigate threats from anti-abortion extremists by:

1. Anticipating potential threats and making plans and protocols for safety and to continue this vital work, based on knowledge of local and national actors
2. Training volunteers and paid petitioners in de-escalation tactics
3. Understanding the local laws around petitioning, recording, and other regulations that may influence your ability to successfully gather signatures or canvass for amendments
4. Being selective about information posted publicly, such as the names and faces of petitioners and petitioning locations

Ballot initiatives are an important part of the democratic process. Interfering with the freedom to vote shows desperation on the part of abortion opponents, and also demonstrates a broader (and frightening) commitment to undermining democracy as a whole.

Sources:

1. https://arkansasadvocate.com/2024/06/07/publication-of-abortion-amendment-canvasser-list-is-intimidation-ballot-question-committee-says
2. https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2024/06/11/doxed-and-scared-a-canvasser-for-abortion-mmj-rights-stays-the-course
3. https://19thnews.org/2024/06/arkansas-abortion-ballot-measure-harassment/
4. https://19thnews.org/2024/08/arkansas-supreme-court-abortion-ballot-measure/
5. https://arkansasadvocate.com/2024/08/02/arkansas-secretary-of-state-discriminated-against-proposed-abortion-amendment-supporters-say/
6. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/06/arizona-abortion-referendum-battle-00145089
7. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/02/missouri-abortion-amendment-march-life/
8. https://missourilife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/10-Reasons-to-Decline-to-Sign-IP-MRL-11-17-23.pdf
9. https://flatheadbeacon.com/2024/06/12/montana-abortion-constitutional-amendment-signature-128/
10. https://montanafreepress.org/2024/05/30/the-hurdles-facing-montanas-abortion-rights-initiative/
11. https://19thnews.org/2024/09/abortion-opponents-efforts-block-ballot-measures/
12. https://www.splcenter.org/anti-abortion-movement/violent-history