HELENA — Montana House Republicans have advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to establish “personhood” starting at conception. It’s intended to go on the Montana ballot in 2026, just two years after voters approved an amendment adding abortion rights to the state constitution – though it faces an uphill battle to actually reach the ballot.
(Watch the video to see Tuesday's debate on the proposed amendment.)
Rep. Lee Deming, R-Laurel, is sponsoring House Bill 316, which would say “the word ‘person’ applies to all members of mankind at any stage of development, beginning at the stage of fertilization or conception.” He said the proposal wasn’t undoing voters’ choice to pass Constitutional Initiative 128 in November – just giving them a second chance to weigh in on the issue.
“To be honest with you, I'm not sure that the people who voted on CI-128 really understood what they were voting for, and I think there may be some buyer's remorse,” he said Tuesday.
Deming called abortion a violation of individual dignity, and said HB 316 would be a first step to recognizing that.
Opponents of the proposal warned the impacts of codifying personhood could go beyond abortion – especially threatening availability of in vitro fertilization. They said passing HB 316 would undermine what voters just decided.
“In this case, you are stepping in and trying to overweigh what the voters have done and have told you,” said Rep. Pete Elverum, D-Helena. “Just stop.”
Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings, was the only Republican to vote against HB 316 Tuesday. She said she didn’t think the state needed CI-128, and she didn’t think it needed this either.
“We asked them last time if they were for or against abortion, and now we're going to give them even more confusing language, that makes them wonder, ‘Now, what does this mean?’” she said. “Because I hardly knew what it meant.”
House Speaker Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, said the argument that HB 316 was going against the voters was a “nonstarter.”
“This right here – this is bringing it to the electors,” he said. “This isn't us saying we're dictating this on the people. This is us saying we want to present you with another option.”
However, it appears there’s still a difficult road to get the personhood amendment on the ballot. The Legislature can only put a constitutional amendment before voters with support from two-thirds of all lawmakers – 100 yes votes between the House and the Senate. On Tuesday’s initial vote, 57 House members – all Republicans – supported HB 316. If that vote total holds on Wednesday’s final vote, it would take 43 out of 50 senators to support it, including 11 of 18 Democrats.
Also on Tuesday, the House voted down another proposed constitutional amendment: House Bill 460, sponsored by Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, which proposed allowing citizens to convene a grand jury by petition. It failed on a 40-60 vote.
