HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana House voted along party lines to advance a measure seeking to let voters to define a "person" as a fertilized egg at the moment of conception.
The proposed referendum won endorsement 59-41 on Thursday and still faces a third-reading vote. It needs the support of two-thirds of lawmakers to be placed on the ballot.
House Democrats said the bill authored by Republican Rep. Derek Skees of Kalispell represented an assault on a women's access to abortion.
Skees said the measure was about faith and morality.
The proposal is one of three abortion-related measures being considered by the Montana Legislature during the current session.
One bill would effectively outlaw all abortions by requiring doctors to save fetuses or face criminal charges. Another would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy of so-called "pain-capable" fetuses.
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