Montanans share their concerns ahead of abortion rights vote

Kari Workman sells her art at an uptown Butte ice cream shop in late July. She holds up a square cloth printed with a coiled snake and the words “don’t tread on our reproductive rights.” The text of Montana’s constitutional right to privacy lines the scalloped trim.

“And the idea is you could pull that out instead of your Constitution book just to educate yourself, but also others, that this is the part of our Constitution that’s protecting our right to reproductive health right now in Montana that we don’t want to lose,” said Workman.

Workman is referring to state Supreme Court precedent that says Montanan’s right to privacy prevents undue government interference in abortion access. While the court has affirmed that precedent several times, it’s not set in stone. It’s not codified. Precedents can change with the opinion of judges. Like in the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended federal protections for the right to end a pregnancy.

To give abortion access a firmer foundation, advocates have been rallying in support of a ballot proposal to enshrine abortion access in the state’s Constitution. Workman displayed her art in Butte at an event where attendees could get a scoop of ice cream, shop artisan crafts and get information about abortion access.

“You don’t want to be forced to do anything, but especially like, bring a life into the world. And so, just having that right and that access is so important for the whole community,” Workman said.

Since the overturning of Roe v Wade, 13 states have enacted total abortion bans. Eleven others have banned abortion at different points in pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood of Montana and the ballot committee Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights are behind the measure that will appear on ballots this year, hoping to prevent such a ban.

Martha Fuller is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.

“It’s really about who’s in charge of making those decisions about pregnancy. Is it you, the Montanan, the person who’s pregnant, or is it the government?” Fuller says.

The measure will appear on the ballot as C1-128 with “yes” or “no” underneath. Voters will choose whether or not they want to amend the constitution with new language. The text is fairly long and can be found on the Montana Secretary of State’s website.

To paraphrase — it would prohibit the government from burdening abortion access before fetal viability. It would also prohibit the government from burdening abortion access when a treating healthcare professional finds it’s medically indicated to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health post-viability.

Opponents of the measure argue that language is too broad — among other concerns.

Dale Schowengerdt is a former solicitor general for Montana. He offered analysis of the proposal as part of the Montana Catholic Conference’s campaign against it.

“It is purposefully written very vaguely. And when a constitutional provision does that, like this one does, it creates especially big problems because Constitutional law is the law of the state. It trumps everything else,” said Schowengerdt.

Schowengerdt says the phrase “fetal viability” is vague and allowing health care providers to determine when abortion is medically indicated is subjective. He says that would permit abortion “up until the moment of birth.”

“What we do understand about the law makes it one of the most extreme abortion laws in the country, and in fact, the world,” Schowengerdt said.

Nine states allow abortion regardless of viability, which is less strict than what Montana’s ballot measure proposes. Claims that abortion rights advocates would allow for abortions “up until the moment of birth” have been raised by prominent GOP candidates for office this cycle.

Fact-checkers with the Poynter Institute reported that a similar claim was false. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 1% of abortions occur after 21 weeks gestation. According to health research and news organization KFF, there are five clinics total in the U.S. that offer abortion services at or after 28 weeks.

KFF says abortions that late in pregnancy are provided in exceptional circumstances, and that no clinician offers abortions services “up until birth.”

The term “fetal viability” is more complicated, says Fuller with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.

“People, I think, tend to think of viability as being a specific moment in time, but the reality is, every pregnancy is unique. Some pregnancies will never be viable, and so the understanding of viability is based on that unique pregnancy and the circumstances of the pregnancy.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which advocates for abortion access, says the term “fetal viability” is misleading.

Survival rates for babies born prematurely range dramatically between 22 and 25 weeks gestation. Clinicians look at several factors to determine viability while a fetus is in the womb. There’s no single test.

For that reason, the college opposes policy-makers using “viability” to restrict abortion. They say each case is extremely personal and should be left between clinicians and their patients.

Sara Rushing is a political science professor at Montana State University and studies where personal health experiences meet politics. She says some people experience a political awakening after navigating a health system they don’t have much control in, like during pregnancy, child birth or while seeking an abortion.

“That’s one context where sort of immediate, visceral embodiment of threat, whether you’re actually a pregnant person seeking to terminate a pregnancy or you’re just someone who could potentially be pregnant or care for someone in that situation — I think that is very much an awakening moment of many women today.”

That was the case for Shasta McLaughlin from Belgrade.

“I lost three babies and I know the pain that that causes,” McLaughlin says.

McLaughlin attended a She Prays She Votes rally in Bozeman, put on by the conservative Concerned Women for America. McLaughlin’s Mormon faith informs her opinion on abortion, and her experience with miscarriage made her feelings on the issue stronger.

“I believe that women are really led to have an abortion whenever they have an unplanned pregnancy, but that does not serve them. And I believe that someone always dies in an abortion and that’s not OK,” McLaughlin says.

But similar personal experiences can bring people to different conclusions. Gwendolyn Chilcote helped found Butte Action Alliance to advocate for abortion access. The organization holds events like the one in the uptown ice cream shop to urge people to join their cause.

“I have four children and I’ve had an abortion and I’ve had a miscarriage and I know how personal all of those decisions are,” she says.

Chilcote says the idea of being denied a choice in whether to continue a pregnancy makes her feel like a second-class citizen.

“How can you just take away these rights that are ours that were already fought for, that were supposedly settled? It feels like I’m in prison, like I’m not allowed the things all the other humans are allowed anymore.”

All states that have put the question of abortion rights before voters since the repeal of Roe V Wade have come away with protections for access. Montanans will vote on the issue November 5.