Montana’s Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen certified a ballot measure on Tuesday night that will ask voters on Nov. 5 to amend their state constitution to “expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.”
Montana law currently prohibits abortion beyond “fetal viability,” which the state defines as beginning at 24 weeks gestation. The ballot measure if passed, however, would effectively ban the GOP legislature from passing any laws that limit abortion before that cutoff. It would also keep the government from holding abortionists accountable for misconduct like ending life in the womb late in pregnancy.
“CI-128 prevents the government from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in exercising their right to make and carry out voluntary decisions about their pregnancy,” the amendment states.
The proposal doesn’t simply ostracize the 55 percent of Americans who think ending life in the womb beyond the start of the second trimester, around 14 weeks gestation, should be “generally illegal.” It also uses vague language to deliberately prohibit the state from interfering with abortions at any point in pregnancy as long as a “healthcare professional determines it is medically indicated to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
This sweeping modification to the state’s already radical permissions means practically any abortion could be construed to meet the “medically necessary” qualifier required for taxpayer funding under Montana’s Medicaid program.
“Montana allows abortion until a baby reaches viability and that apparently isn’t
