Voters will get to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in the constitution of Montana, which on Tuesday became the eighth state to put the issue before the electorate this fall.
The Montana Secretary of State's Office certified that the general election ballot will include the initiative on abortion rights. All but one of the eight states are seeking to amend their constitutions.
Montana's measure seeks to enshrine a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion by a provider of the patient's choice as Republican lawmakers have tried to overturn the ruling, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and left the abortion issue up to the states.
"Since Roe was overturned, extreme anti-abortion politicians have used every trick in the book to take away our freedoms and ban abortion completely," Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Montana, said in a statement. "During that time, we have been working together to put this issue before voters."
Republican lawmakers in Montana passed a law in 2023 saying the right to privacy does not protect the right to an abortion. It has yet to be challenged in court.
