Abortion looms as major issue in upcoming legislative session

Montana voters this year rejected a ballot initiative that would have reshaped infant and obstetric care, a proposed law linked by supporters and critics to the national debate over abortion, even as they handed Republicans a supermajority in the statehouse.

Formally called the “Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure,” LR-131 sought to protect all infants born alive, including infants born during an attempted aborton, by imposing criminal penalties on non compliant medical providers throughout the state...