Montana Preps for a Critical Abortion Vote This November
Montana residents will vote to determine if a right to abortion will be cemented in the state Constitution this coming November. This makes Montana one of nine states facing a citizen-proposed question regarding abortion rights on their ballot papers.
Overwhelming Signature Collection
In an electronic mail disseminated late Tuesday, Montana’s secretary of state conveyed to the pro-abortion rights group that they had assembled a sufficient number of verified signatures for the measure to appear on the ballot. Remarkably, the coalition recorded over 117,000 signatures for this cause, a figure nearly twice the required 60,039. This represents the highest number of signatures ever collected for a Montana ballot measure.
Arizona’s Supreme Court Dismisses Challenge
Arizona was also bracing for a Thursday deadline to confirm its ballots, like Montana. Late Tuesday, the state’s Supreme Court overruled a late appeal from anti-abortion entities hoping to overrule a similar measure that had been sanctioned by the state’s secretary of state the prior week. Their unanimously Republican-appointed justices explained that this decision did not express alignment with the measure. Instead, it indicated disagreement with the technical objections anti-abortion groups presented against the language incorporated in the petitions for the ballot.
National Democrats and Abortion Rights Groups Investment
National Democrats, alongside abortion rights advocates, are investing heavily in both Montana and Arizona. They hope these ballot measures can help stimulate voter turnout and consequently bolster Democrats running for the Senate. This strategic effort aims to preserve the party’s currently slender majority.
Continued Legality of Abortion in Montana
Presently, abortion is legal in Montana up until viability, or when a fetus becomes capable of surviving outside the womb. This is typically around 24 weeks into pregnancy due to a 1999 state Supreme Court ruling. The ruling posited that the right to privacy in the state Constitution encompassed a right to “procreative autonomy.” To prevent future courts from potentially overturning this decision, advocates deem the measure indispensable. Notably, the state’s Republican governor and the Republican-controlled legislature have continually campaigned to ban or limit abortions.
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