Supporters of a constitutional initiative to protect abortion access in Montana say they’ve collected more than enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot in November.
Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights said Friday that they’ve collected more than 117,000 signatures from all 56 counties in support of the proposal.
Akilah Deernose is executive director of the ACLU of Montana, which is also backing the initiative.
“Today is an immense milestone in our fight for freedom,” Deernose said.
The announcement comes days before the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which repealed federal protections for abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 14 states have since enacted total bans on abortion.
The Montana initiative aims to enshrine abortion access in the state’s Constitution.
Supporters had less than 80 days to collect more than 60,000 signatures from across the state. Their time was limited after Attorney General Austin Knudsen challenged the initiative in court and delayed signature gathering efforts.
Martha Fuller with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana says some volunteers experienced harassment while collecting signatures, and she expects more legal challenges in the months to come.
“These actions are an embarrassment to the kind and neighborly and accepting nature of Montana and we are ready to fight back against these attacks,” Fuller said.
In a recent radio update from the Montana Family Foundation, director Jeff Lazsloffy said anti-abortion organizers filmed signature gatherers in an effort to ensure the process is above board, and believe they have evidence to disqualify some signatures. Laszloffy said they’ve turned those videos in to local county attorneys for review.
“Just as expected, signature gatherers for Planned Parenthood were out in force. But so were we,” Lazsloffy said.
It’s now up to local county elections departments to verify that all signatures meet requirements by July 19.
