Montana’s top attorney has blocked a proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine protections for abortion access in the state Constitution.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office has deemed the proposal “legally insufficient,” Montana Free Press first reported. The office’s analysis said it contains contradictory language and exceeds the limits of what one ballot initiative can do.
Citizen ballot initiatives cannot advance without Knudsen’s OK.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana is behind the proposal that would prohibit the state from limiting access to pre-viability abortions. The organization plans to challenge Knudsen’s decision in court.
Two of Knudsen’s prior blocks on unrelated ballot initiatives were challenged in court. The Montana Supreme Court overturned one and upheld the other.
If successful in court, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana and other supporters would be allowed to start gathering signatures for the proposal. They need to secure endorsements from 10% of all qualified voters from across the state for the proposal to appear on the 2024 ballot.
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Abortion-rights advocates have asked the Montana Supreme Court to force the secretary of state to allow signature gathering to begin on a ballot initiative. It’s part of a fast-moving legal back-and-forth ahead of a June deadline to collect signatures needed to certify the constitutional initiative for the ballot.
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Republican lawmakers have ordered the Secretary of State to send a proposed ballot initiative to a legislative committee for review before signature-gathering begins. The request escalates tensions between the lawmakers and the state Supreme Court, which said this week such a review wasn’t required.
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The Montana Supreme Court has rephrased a proposed ballot initiative after its supporters and the state Attorney General clashed over the language. The initiative about abortion access can now advance.
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The Montana Supreme Court overturned the state attorney general’s block of a proposal that could amend the state’s Constitution to protect abortion access.
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The decision cited a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the state Constitution's right to privacy includes a woman's right to abortion access.