MT: Supreme Court gives AG until Friday to defend ballot statement [View all]
The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Republican Attorney General to, by the end of the week, defend his preferred language imposed on a ballot initiative explicitly establishing abortion access in the state constitution.
In a new round of litigation over what’s known as Ballot Issue #14, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the initiative’s campaign organization filed an emergency petition with the high court Tuesday asking for Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s preferred language be stricken from the ballot statement in favor of MSRR’s language.
Groups supporting the ballot initiative — Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and Forward Montana — blasted Knudsen for attempting to hobble MSRR’s campaign.
Time is of the essence: In their filing, attorneys for MSRR said its signature gathering company on standby believes it will be “virtually impossible” to collect and submit 60,000 signatures by the June 21 deadline if collection efforts can’t begin before May 1.
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/health/ballot-initiative-abortion-access-montana-attorney-general-supreme-court/article_c69077d0-13bf-55ae-9474-7d936de89bc2.html