Montana, an island of abortion access, preps for consequential elections and court decisions
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a bill, April 26, 2021, that bans abortions after 20 weeks gestational age as bill sponsor Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, looks on in Helena, Mont. A Montana judge ruled on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, that Sheldon-Galloway's bill and two others restricting abortion that were passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021 are unconstitutional. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
A years-long battle over abortion access in a sprawling and sparsely populated region of the U.S. may come to a head this year in the courts and at the ballot box.
Challenges to several state laws designed to chip away at abortion access are pending in Montana courts. Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates are pushing a ballot initiative that would add extra protections to the state constitution. And two open state Supreme Court seats could shape whether the high court upholds past decisions that protected abortion rights in the state.
Abortion remains legal in the conservative stronghold because of a 25-year-old state Supreme Court ruling that protected it under the right to privacy included in the state’s constitution.
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