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.
Republican Senate President Jason Ellsworth on Tuesday subpoenaed Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to send the initiative’s language to a legislative committee. There, lawmakers would have up to two weeks to perform a legislative review. But, state Supreme Court justices have said that the initiative could move forward without legislative input.
Abortion-rights advocates will have to resubmit their request to the Montana Supreme Court, due to a legal technicality, if they want the court to act further.