Montana
Abortion rights ballot measure to go before Montana voters
Voters will get to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in the constitution of Montana, which on Tuesday became the eighth state to put the issue before the electorate this fall.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office certified that the general election ballot will include the initiative on abortion rights. All but one of the eight states are seeking to amend their constitutions.
Montana’s measure seeks to enshrine a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion by a provider of the patient’s choice.
Republican lawmakers in the state passed a law in 2023 saying the right to privacy does not protect the right to an abortion. It has yet to be challenged in court.
Opponents of the initiative made several efforts to try to keep it off the ballot, and supporters took several of the issues to court.
Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen initially determined that the proposed ballot measure was legally insufficient. After the Montana Supreme Court overruled him, Knudsen rewrote the ballot language to say the proposed amendment would “allow post-viability abortions up to birth,” eliminate “the State’s compelling interest in preserving prenatal life” and potentially “increase the number of taxpayer-funded abortions.”
The high court ended up writing its own initiative language for the petitions used to gather signatures, and signature-gatherers reported that some people tried to intimidate voters into not signing.
The Secretary of State’s Office also changed the rules to say the signatures of inactive voters would not count, reversing nearly 30 years of precedent. The office made computer changes to reject inactive voters’ signatures after they had already been collected and after counties began verifying some of them.
Supporters again had to go to court and received an order, and additional time, for counties to verify the signatures of inactive voters. Inactive voters are people who filled out a universal change-of-address form but did not update their address on their voter registration. If counties sent two pieces of mail to that address without a response, voters are put on an inactive list.
Supporters ended up with more than 81,000 signatures, about 10.5% of registered voters. The campaign needed just over 60,000 signatures and to qualify 40 or more of the 100 state House districts by gathering the signatures of at least 10% of the number of people who voted for governor in 2020 in that district. The initiative qualified in 59 districts.
Republican lawmakers have made several attempts to challenge the state Supreme Court’s 1999 ruling, including asking the state Supreme Court to overturn it. The Republican controlled Legislature also passed several bills in 2021 and 2023 to restrict abortion access, including the one saying the constitutional right to privacy does not protect abortion rights.
Courts have blocked several of the laws, such as an abortion ban past 20 weeks of gestation, a ban on prescription of medication abortions via telehealth services, a 24-hour waiting period for medication abortions and an ultrasound requirement — all citing the Montana Supreme Court’s 1999 ruling.
Last week the state Supreme Court ruled that minors in Montana don’t need parental permission to receive an abortion, overturning a 2013 law.
In 2022, Montana voters rejected a referendum that would have established criminal charges for health care providers who do not take “all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life” of an infant born alive, including after an attempted abortion. Health care professionals and other opponents argued that it could have robbed parents of precious time with infants born with incurable medical issues if doctors are forced to attempt treatment.
The legality of abortion was turned back to the states when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Seven states have already put abortion questions before voters since then — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — and in each case abortion supporters won.
WESTERN MONTANA — Here’s a look at Western Montana’s top news stories for Tuesday.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office reports the suspect in last Thursday’s attempted kidnapping at a Kalispell gas station has been identified and arrested. The incident occurred at Woody’s gas station at Highways 35 and 206, where a man allegedly attempted to rob and kidnap a woman sitting in her car. (Read the full story)
Flathead County attempted kidnapping suspect in custody
The Bureau of Land Management is offering $1 permits for people to cut their own Christmas trees on public land, with options including Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and western larch. Harvesters must stay at least a quarter-mile from roads and rivers, with BLM encouraging people to target overcrowded areas where thinning would benefit forest management. (Read the full story)
Bureau of Land Management offering $1 Christmas tree permits
Two reindeer from a farm in Washington brought Christmas magic to Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply in Missoula on Dec. 6, featuring 10-year-old Candy and 1.5-year-old Elsa posing for photos and meeting dozens of families. The reindeer, raised by Jordan Duncan at Reindeer Express near Spokane, spend their off-season splashing in water and munching grass before returning to holiday duties. (Read the full story)
Creature Features: Reindeer for Rent
Montana
Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games
Montana-Montana State, known as the Brawl of the Wild, is one of the best rivalries in FCS. This year, more than bragging rights are on the line, as the matchup will take place in the FCS semifinals.
The high stakes and relatively smaller seating capacity have made this game the most expensive entry-level ticket in college football this weekend, including the first round of the College Football Playoff.
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The cheapest ticket for the game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana, is $675 on Gametime Tickets compared to about $350 for the Miami at Texas A&M game, which is the most expensive of the four first-round College Football Playoff matchups. The most expensive ticket for the FCS semifinal is a sideline seat priced at $1,152. The Miami-Texas A&M game has Founder Club tickets listed at $2,484.
The seating capacity for Bobcat Stadium is 20,767, compared to more than 102,000 at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The other three CFP games this weekend will be hosted by Oklahoma (capacity 80,126), Ole Miss (64,038) and Oregon (60,000).
Next year’s Montana-Montana State matchup starts at $876, with some tickets listed as high as $1,359.
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Montana State is the No. 2 seed in the playoffs at 12-2 after defeating Stephen F. Austin 44-28 in the quarterfinals this past weekend. Third-seeded Montana is 13-1 and beat South Dakota 52-22 in its quarterfinal. Montana leads the all-time rivalry 74-44-5.
Montana State has won the last two matchups between the teams, most recently winning 31-28 at Montana on Nov. 22. At least one of the teams has appeared in the FCS championship game in three of the past four years. Montana’s last national championship came in 2001, while Montana State’s came in 1984.
Montana is led by head coach Bobby Hauck, who is the second-winningest active FCS head coach and one of the top 10 winningest active coaches overall in Division I football at 151-42. Montana’s key players are quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, running back Eli Gillman and wide receiver Michael Wortham.
Montana State is led by head coach Brent Vigen. Key players for Montana State include quarterback Justin Lamson, running back Julius Davis and wide receiver Taco Dowler.
The first playoff meeting between football rivals Montana and Montana State is set for 2 p.m. Mountain time next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will air nationally on ABC.
The Bobcats and Grizzlies will square off in the semifinal round of the FCS postseason after each team won convincingly in the quarterfinal round. No. 2-seeded Montana State defeated No. 7 Stephen F. Austin 44-28 at home Friday night and No. 3-seeded Montana raced past No. 11 South Dakota 52-22 on Saturday in Missoula.
Next week’s game between the Cats and Griz will be the 125th all-time meeting, and it will be for a berth in the national championship game Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.
It will also be the first time the schools have faced each other twice in football in the same season since 1913.
The Bobcats are seeking their fourth all-time trip to the FCS/Division I-AA title game and their third visit in the past five years. MSU claims three national championships — 1956 (NAIA), 1976 (NCAA Division II) and 1984 (I-AA). The Bobcats lost to North Dakota State in the championship game in Frisco, Texas, in both 2021 and last season.
The Grizzlies are looking to make their ninth trip to the championship game and their second in the past three seasons. Montana has won two previous titles — in 1995 and 2001. The Griz suffered title-game losses in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2023.
Montana State beat Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 in the regular-season finale to earn the outright Big Sky Conference title and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 74-44-5 but MSU owns a 12-10 edge since 2002.
Saturday’s other semifinal game pits unseeded Illinois State against No. 12 seed Villanova. Illinois State went on the road and upset No. 8 seed UC Davis 42-31 in the quarterfinals on Saturday while Villanova held on to beat No. 4 seed Tarleton State 26-21.
Illinois State and Villanova will kick off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on ESPN2.
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