SACRAMENTO – Two women, members of a group called Breasts Not Bombs, were arrested after they stripped off their tops in public to protest measures backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at an upcoming California referendum.

Arrested were Sheryl Glaser, 45, and Renee Love, 40, both charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and violating the conditions of the group’s demonstration permit, authorities said.

“Once they bared all, they were arrested,” said Officer Tammy DuTemple.

The Mendocino-based group went to court last week to block the arrests, but US District Judge Garland E. Burrell ruled Friday that “there is no (constitutional) First Amendment right to bare breasts on the grounds of the state Capitol.”

The group is against Schwarzenegger-supported initiatives for administrative and legal reforms in California, which will be decided at the Tuesday special election ballot. The initiatives address concern teacher tenure, state spending, redrawing of legislative districts and regulations on the use of union funds for political campaigns.

Members previously had demonstrated topless without incident in the San Francisco Bay area and at an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, protesters who only pared to their brassieres or to pasties were not arrested.

Some men in the group also removed their shirts.

Sen. Gloria Romero, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said the Legislature should clarify what constitutes indecent exposure.

“Exactly what is it that we are dealing with when we talk about the indecency of the breast?” she asked. “If a woman were holding a baby here today and breast-feeding, would she have been arrested?”