An initiative that proposes enshrining abortion access in Montana's constitution is set to appear on the state's November ballot after the state's top election official approved it on Tuesday.
Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen on Tuesday certified the ballot measure, CI-128, which would amend the state's constitution to "expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion," and bar the government from denying abortion access before fetal viability and when abortion is "medically indicated" to protect a pregnant patient's health.
Montana is one one nine states that will have measures expanding or protecting abortion and reproductive rights on the ballot this fall.
Organizers from Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, led by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said in June that they had submitted over 117,000 signatures from all 56 counties in support of the amendment, a figure that exceeded the 60,300 necessary to move the process forward.
After a review of those signatures, the group last month celebrated meeting the valid signature threshold needed to qualify for the November ballot.
The ballot measure had also faced a litany of legal challenges from Republicans in the solidly conservative state. Following the U.S Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, voters in several other GOP-leaning states have approved similar constitutional amendments codifying abortion access.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana's president Martha Fuller lauded the amendment's ballot qualification in a statement Tuesday.
“Montana voters will finally have the opportunity to make their voices heard and protect reproductive rights in November,” Fuller said. “We could not have accomplished this incredible feat without the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who want to protect their freedom and constitutional right to make private medical decisions."
While Montana is not competitive at the presidential level, having an abortion rights initiative on the ballot adds a new dynamic to a key Senate race between Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent, and Republican Tim Sheehy.