Nicole Smith

Montana voters approved a constitutional amendment in November to protect access to abortion. What would federal anti-abortion laws mean for Montana's new amendment?

Since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed federal protections for abortions, medical providers in conservative-led states have been fighting legal and political battles — as well as escalating threats from the anti-abortion movement.

The four states bordering Montana have “trigger laws” in effect or pending now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ended federal protections for abortion, making conservative Big Sky Country an unlikely haven for women seeking to end their pregnancies. But Montana’s potential to become an abortion refuge has been diminished by the operator of three of the state’s five clinics, which are preemptively limiting who can receive abortion pills.