Montana News
Candidates sound-off on abortion rights ballot measure
With Montana News, I'm Elinor Smith. A constitutional measure to protect abortion has a spot on Montana's ballot this fall. Candidates in the U.S. Senate and Governor's races are also highlighting the issue in their campaigns. MTPR's Shailee Rager reports. Democratic U.S. Senator John Tester held three campaign rallies over the weekend with Planned Parenthood Action Fund, centering reproductive rights in his hotly contested re-election campaign. "You don't want a politician and a bureaucrat or a judge. Telling you, especially if you're a woman, what health areas is you're going to make, do ya?" (cheering) Tester supported federal legislation to protect abortion access before fetal viability. It would also protect abortion post-viability when medically necessary, based on the good faith medical judgment of a health care provider. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy is anti-abortion and calls Tester's stance extreme. Sheehy has said he would not support a national abortion ban and said that decision should be left up to individual states. He said he supports exceptions in restrictions for cases of rape, incest, and a life-threatening medical emergency. The libertarian in the U.S. Senate race, Sid Dowd, has said the government should not regulate abortion. Support and opposition to a proposal to add protections for abortion to Montana's constitution could encourage voters to turn out. Incumbent Republican Governor Greg Gianforte recently told NBC Montana he'll vote no on that measure. - Encourage other people to vote no too. We need to honor life, and this ballot initiative doesn't do that. - Gianforte has signed around a dozen anti-abortion bills into law since taking office. Gianforte's Democratic challenger, Ryan Bussey, has criticized the governor for that stance. Bussey supports constitutional protections for abortion and says no politician has any right to make private healthcare decisions for women. Libertarian candidate for governor, Kaiser Leib, also supports access to abortion. In Helena, I'm Shalee Rager.