HELENA — Opponents of last year’s voter-approved measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Montana Constitution are seeking to block it from taking effect – based not on its content, but on the way the state handles proposed amendments.
The Montana Family Foundation announced a legal case, asking the Montana Supreme Court to step in before Constitutional Initiative 128 takes effect July 1.
Two voters and the Montana Life Defense Fund, a committee linked with the Family Foundation, are named as plaintiffs. They’re arguing that the state constitution requires the entire text of a proposed amendment be printed on the ballot – not just a summary, as the state has done for decades.
“From 1978, each official ballot containing a proposed constitutional amendment was constitutionally deficient because it omitted the full text of the amendment as required by Article XIV, section 9 of the Montana Constitution,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a filing.
The full text of the amendments is posted online and in the Secretary of State’s voter information pamphlet mailed out to voters. However, the plaintiffs argue anyone who registered to vote on Election Day – and therefore didn’t receive a pamphlet – didn’t have a full opportunity to see specifically what the measure would do before voting on it.
“This is not just about the abortion debate -- it's about protecting the integrity of Montana's Constitution and the democratic process,” said Derek Oestreicher, chief legal counsel for the Family Foundation, in a statement. “Montanans have the right to know exactly what they are voting on, especially when it comes to permanent changes to the foundational document of our state.”
Attorneys wrote the Supreme Court should take immediate jurisdiction of the case, saying there’s urgency “because CI-128 will be effective July 1, 2025, and if enacted will eliminate all regulation of abortion up to the moment of birth.”
CI-128 adds a new section to the constitution, outlining a “right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion” and stating that that right “shall not be denied or burdened unless justified by a compelling government interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
It would allow the state to regulate abortion care after fetal viability – the point at which a health care professional determines a fetus is likely to survive outside the uterus. However, it provides an exception, saying the government couldn’t “deny or burden” access to an abortion if a health care professional determines it’s “medically indicated to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
CI-128 passed last November with 58% of the vote.
Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, one of the groups that backed the initiative, criticized the filing as an attempt to undo the will of voters.
“The people of our state have spoken time and time again: they value and will protect the right to abortion care,” she said. “Anti-abortion extremists are desperate to try anything to ban abortion completely and force the government into doctors’ offices. It’s time to respect the will of voters and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana will always do whatever we can to ensure Montanans continue to have a constitutional right to abortion.”
