Scripps News and Decision Desk HQ project Montana will pass a measure to grant constitutional protections to abortion rights .
Montana measure CI-128 will add an explicit constitutional right to abortion in the state.
Abortion protections in the state right now depend on precedent set by earlier legal cases. The Montana Supreme Court decided in 1999 that abortion until the point of viability was protected under the state's constitutional right to privacy.
The exact timing of viability depends on a number of factors, but a widely accepted timeframe is following 24-28 weeks of pregnancy.
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Language added under the new measure would state, "There is a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion." There would be exceptions to extend the availability of abortions past viability in order to protect the life or health of the mother.
Montana currently permits abortion before fetal viability.
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