Aug. 27 (UPI) – Montana residents will vote on constitutionalizing abortion rights in November after a series of objections delayed signature collection over the summer.
The signatures on the Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights petition were certified last week after a lengthy process. The coalition of abortion rights activists collected more than 117,000 signatures in about 80 days. For the ballot initiative to pass, 60,359 valid signatures were needed.
If the initiative is approved, the state’s constitution will be amended to guarantee the right to abortion until the fetus is viable, which is around 23 to 24 weeks. Doctors can also perform an abortion after that if they consider it medically necessary to protect the patient’s life and health.
“We are pleased that CI-128 is on the ballot in November and that Montana voters will finally have the opportunity to make their voices heard and protect reproductive rights in November,” Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana and spokesperson for MSRR, said in a statement. “Since Roe was overturned, extreme anti-abortion activists have used all kinds of tricks to take away our freedoms and ban abortion entirely. During that time, we have worked together to put this issue before voters.”
Before MSRR could begin collecting signatures, it had to go through a lengthy process. In January, Attorney General Austin Knudsen blocked the initiative. Knudsen claimed that it violated an article of the state constitution that states that constitutional amendments in the states must be clearly defined and made in a single form.
In March, the state Supreme Court ruled that Knudsen could not block the ballot proposal. A month later, it revised the wording of the ballot submitted in November. Signature collection was allowed to begin on April 16, with the deadline for submitting signatures being June 21.
Ashley All, MSRR’s communications director, told UPI that Knudsen, Gov. Greg Gianaforte and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen have made numerous efforts to delay or slow down the signature collection process, efforts that began last year as Knudsen waited to file his objection to the amendment.
“That was the intent, to wait until after the first of the year, and that was the intent throughout the process,” All said. “It was an attempt to obstruct and delay that process to prevent it from getting on the ballot.”
Republicans in the state legislature also participated in the attempt to shorten the deadline, arguing that they also had to sign the amendment and demanding a 14-day review period after the attorney general approved it.
The state Supreme Court ruled that statutory review did not apply because Knudsen did not find the amendment legally sufficient. The court also revised some language in the ballot proposal to clarify the role of medical professionals.
Gathering and submitting signatures on time was not the end of the tug-of-war. The Secretary of State’s office invalidated the signatures of an unknown number of registered voters during the certification process, leading to a lawsuit by MSRR just days before certification was due to be completed. Registered voters deemed inactive by the office were removed from the voter rolls, according to emails obtained by UPI.
A district judge ruled in favor of MSRR and restored the signatures of voters who were considered inactive.
The certification process in Montana is a laborious one in itself. In most states, petitions are submitted en masse to the Secretary of State’s office. In Montana, signatures must be submitted to each of the 56 counties in which the signatories reside.
To ensure the restoration of removed signatures, the deadline for certification was extended by three days.
According to All, signature collectors and volunteers reported being subjected to intimidation and harassment throughout the campaign. In some cases, law enforcement was called to de-escalate the situation, but no cases of physical violence could be confirmed.
Kiersten Iwai, executive director of Forward Montana, told UPI that young voters played a significant role in electing CI-128.
Forward Montana is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes and engages young voters. About 28% of Montana voters are 35 years old or younger.
Iwai has observed that young voters in her state have become more socially and politically engaged since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022.
“They are activated by this issue,” she said. “Young people’s engagement shows itself in many different ways. They volunteer, talk to their friends, post on social media or go to rallies.”
“We know that young people in particular really support abortion access,” she continued. “They want to be part of something proactive and meaningful. Young people are absolutely critical when it comes to collecting signatures and signing petitions to get things on the ballot.”
More than 500 volunteers took part in the petition.
There is still the possibility of further legal action. The Secretary of State’s confirmation can be challenged for up to 30 days. Gianforte, Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion organizations have also launched disinformation campaigns against the amendment.
Gianforte and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, who is running against Democratic Senator Jon Tester, have repeated, without evidence, former President Donald Trump’s claim that abortions were performed before birth and after birth.
All said their organization and others would focus their attention on combating disinformation and informing voters.
“Montana voters want to have their say on this issue,” she said.
The Montana Supreme Court ruled in Armstrong v. Montana in 1999 that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and this remains the case in Montana to this day.
