CI-100 fails to quality for November ballot.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 24, 2008
Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families Succeeds
Extreme Ballot Measure kept off the November ballot.
HELENA, MT – Women’s health advocates, statewide pro-choice organizations, and civil liberty proponents successfully worked together to educate voters to keep a constitutional amendment (CI-100) off the November ballot. With only 21,280 total valid signatures collected statewide as of June 24, the sponsors of CI-100 fell far short of the required 44,615 signatures necessary to qualify the initiative.
Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families, a coalition of twenty-five organizations, formed in January to oppose this constitutional amendment. Supporters of this amendment intended to ban abortion in every circumstance and directly challenge Roe vs. Wade. The consequences of CI-100 would have been far more reaching. CI-100 would have undermined medical decision-making for pregnant women and their doctors, which often must be done quickly and under enormous stress. CI-100 would have dramatically altered Montana’s Constitution and jeopardized the right privacy for all Montanans.
Stacy James, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Montana, explains “Medical providers and the pro-choice community take very seriously any threat to our Constitution. Montana has possibly the strongest constitutional right to privacy in the country and we had a solid, coordinated effort to stop this attack on women’s health and privacy, including over 300 volunteers who reached out to voters at 160 polling locations across the state.”
"This victory proves what we've said all along--Montanans value the right to make private medical decisions and do not want politicians making those decisions for them, said Allyson Hagen, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Montana. "Our strong volunteer effort on primary day demonstrated that Montanans are willing to stand up for the values and freedoms we hold dear."
CI-100 would have granted all constitutional rights beginning at conception by redefining “person” under Montana law, undermining our state's 40-year-old constitutional right to privacy. It’s vague and deceptive language could have led to bans on abortion – with no exceptions, resulting in women being investigated for miscarriage, banning certain methods of birth control, and restricting stem cell research and in-vitro fertilization. Proponents of this initiative proposed a similar measure at the 2007 legislative session which failed with bi-partisan opposition.
“Amending the constitution is a serious matter,” says Betsy Griffing, Legal Director of the Montana ACLU and Adjunct Professor of Montana Constitutional Law at the University of Montana, “and the ACLU of Montana is pleased Montanans have declined to weaken their constitution and chose instead to preserve their strong right of privacy.”
"We were able to educate Montanans about the real dangers of CI-100 before its extremist supporters crafted a unified message," said Travis McAdam of the Montana Human Rights Network. "The radical supporters of the amendment were the ones trying to play catch up this time and never got traction. Our decision to be pro-active paid huge dividends."
Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families: Coalition Partners
A ballot committee, Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families, was organized to oppose CI-100. Twenty-five organizations formally opposed CI-100 (organizations in BOLD represent the steering committee): AAUW Montana (American Association of University Women), ACLU of Montana (American Civil Liberties Union), American Society for Reproductive Medicine, BPW of Montana (Business and Professional Women), Blue Mountain Clinic, Bridger Clinic Inc., Democratic Women’s Caucus, Forward Montana, homeWORD (Women’s Opportunity and Resource Development), Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Montana Human Rights Network, Montana League of Women Voters, Montana Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Montana Women For, Montana Women’s Lobby, Montana Women Vote, NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, Northwest Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood of Montana, Progressive Clergy for Choice, Students for Choice (University of Montana, MSU, MSU-Billings), National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, WEEL (Working for Equality and Economic Liberation), Women’s Voices for the Earth, YWCA-Missoula.
Media Contacts:
Betsy Griffing, ACLU of Montana, (406) 830-3009
Travis McAdam, Montana Human Rights Network (406) 442-5506 x11
Allyson Hagen, NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, (406) 459-1821
Stacy James, Planned Parenthood of Montana, (406) 248-3637
