Montana State Abortion Ballot Initiative
Learn more about LR-131 and what action voters can take.
Vote NO on Montana's Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure
On election day, November 8, Montana voters will consider LR-131, a ballot initiative that gravely interferes in the patient-physician relationship at a time when patients need support of their health care professionals the most. This initiative is not in line with ACOG policy or the provision of evidence-based, appropriate care.
What Does the Montana Ballot Initiative Do?
- LR-131 would require an aggressive course of treatment in extremely complex and often tragic medical situations. It is based on inflammatory language and inaccurate descriptions of doctors, the patients they care for, and the complex and tragic circumstances families face.
- Voting no on this initiative would protect Montanans’ access to compassionate, appropriate care.
What Is At Stake?
- There are significant quality of life issues that families consider when facing an already impossible, tragic situation—these decisions are made thoughtfully and painstakingly, in consult with medical specialists.
- Mandating an aggressive course of treatment in extremely complex situations can prolong suffering and deny families the choice to offer comfort or spiritual care.
- When patients and their families are faced with such devastating circumstances, mandates like this initiative are cruel, and would impose additional trauma on families.
What Can You Do?
Learn more about LR-131 and vote no on election day.
Text of Proposed Amendment
An act adopting the born-alive infant protection act; providing that infants born alive, including infants born alive after an abortion, are legal persons; requiring health care providers to take necessary actions to preserve the life of a born-alive infant; providing a penalty; providing that the proposed act be submitted to the qualified electors of Montana; and providing an effective date.
Read the full text of the initiative.
Voter Information
Go to the Montana voter registration website to register to vote, check or reactivate your registration, or apply to vote by mail.
ACOG's Position
- Medical decisions are personal and should be made only by patients in consultation with their physicians and health care professionals.
- ACOG opposes government interference in the patient-physician relationship, including laws that ban or criminalize evidence-based care and that rely on medically unsupported theories and misinformation.
- Restrictive laws criminalize physicians’ duty of care and place physicians in an ethical dilemma of choosing between their obligation to provide the best available medical care and substantial legal—and sometimes criminal—penalties.