(TheIndependentStar.com) – In a development potentially impacting pro-life advocates, Montana has joined a growing list of states that have decided to put the issue of abortion rights before their voters in the upcoming November election.
This move allows the electorate of Montana to determine whether to endorse a constitutional amendment aimed at safeguarding access to abortion procedures, AFP reports, cited by Newsmax.
The prominence of abortion rights as an electoral issue has escalated, particularly among Democrats, following the pivotal 2022 decision by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court of the United States to overturn the national right to abortion.
This ruling has since ignited a robust campaign theme for the Democratic Party.
The proposed measure in Montana seeks to ensure significant protections for abortion rights.
According to the official statement from Montana’s Secretary of State’s office on their website, the initiative, if successful, “would prohibit the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability.”
This measure intends to establish a constitutional safeguard that would prevent state interference with an individual’s ability to obtain an abortion prior to the fetus reaching viability outside of the womb.
Furthermore, the initiative stipulates that the state cannot obstruct a woman’s access to abortion services if a healthcare professional deems the pregnancy a risk to the mother’s health.
“The initiative would prevent the government from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists someone in exercising their right to make and carry out voluntary decisions about their pregnancy,” further elaborates the Secretary of State’s office.
This move by Montana follows on the heels of a similar decision in Arizona earlier in the month, positioning Montana as the eighth state to propose amendments related to abortion rights on the November ballot, as reported by various US media outlets.
In the broader political arena, Democrats are actively positioning abortion rights as a central theme in the forthcoming election cycle, focusing particularly on battleground states like Arizona, where the margin of victory in the previous presidential election was notably slim.
In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden narrowly secured Arizona by approximately 10,000 votes over his Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been particularly vocal and at the forefront of advocating for abortion rights, aligning her efforts with the broader Democratic strategy as the November elections approach.
Other states have also taken similar steps to include ballot measures regarding abortion access in the upcoming November elections: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota are part of this group.
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