Dem
51
GOP
49
One of the many things the Democrats will do on abortion is try to get it on the ballot in as many states as possible. One of those is Montana, which has a critical Senate race this year. A pro-choice group proposed a ballot measure legalizing abortion, but Montana AG Austin Knudsen (R) opposes abortion, so he decided the measure was "legally insufficient." The group sued. Now the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that Knudsen was wrong and the measure has met all the legal requirements to be on the ballot. Six of the seven justices signed onto the opinion, which was written by Justice Ingrid Gustafson. She wrote that the measure does raise some unresolved issues, but so does every other provision of the state Constitution, and if anyone has any questions about what they mean, well, we're the constitutional helpdesk, ready to interpret them.
However, although this is good news for the pro-choice camp, it is just the starting gun. Now they have to finalize the language, send that back to the AG, get a legislative committee to review it, and then collect 60,000 verified signatures before June 21. It is far from a done deal, but the blockade has been broken and the next step can begin.
Montana is a fairly libertarian state and people generally don't like the government telling them what they can and cannot do. When foraging for signatures, a signature collector can approach a possible signatory and say: "Do you approve of the government telling people what they can do or cannot do with their own bodies?" Once the inevitable "No!" comes back, the response will be: "Me neither. Please sign here."
This is the second good development for the Democrats this week. Two Senate seats they must absolutely win are those of Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who will be greatly helped if this measure is on the ballot since it will drive turnout among young people, and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who just got his dream opponent in Trumpist Bernie Moreno. If Tester and Brown both win, the Democrats have a decent shot at holding 50 seats. If a Democrat is elected vice president, that will be barely enough. (V)