The Montana Right to Abortion Initiative was filed in November 2023. This measure would insert a right to abortion in the state constitution among other items listed in the initiative. The proposed amendment was introduced by Samuel Dickman, abortion provider and officer of Planned Parenthood of Montana. On January 16, 2024, Attorney General Austin Knudsen declared the initiative to be legally insufficient and outlined how the proposed Ballot Measure #14 violates Montana’s constitution by logrolling multiple choices into one initiative and precluding Montanans from passing future regulations on abortion.
The decision by the AG is being appealed. If the appeal is successful, the abortion proponents would need to submit 60,359 valid signatures to county clerks by June 21, 2024. The final deadline for the clerks to submit the signatures to the secretary of state is July 19, 2024, who then verifies they are valid.
