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Montana Definition of Person Amendment (2026)
| Montana Definition of Person Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2026 | |
| Topic Abortion | |
| Status Proposed | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Montana Definition of Person Amendment may appear on the ballot in Montana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The measure would amend the state constitution to provide that the word "person" applies to 'all members of mankind at any stage of development, beginning at the stage of fertilization or conception, regardless of age, health, level of functioning, or condition of dependency" and that "no cause of action may arise as a consequence of harm caused to an unborn baby by an unintentional act of its mother."[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Montana Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in both the Montana State Senate and the Montana House of Representatives.
March 26, 2025: The House passed the amendment in a vote of 58-41 with one member absent. Since the amendment requires a 66.67% vote of both chambers (support from 100 of the 150 total members in both the House and Senate), the amendment requires at least 42 yes votes in the Senate to appear on the ballot. The Senate is composed of 32 Republicans and 18 Democrats.
| Vote in the Montana House of Representatives | |||
| Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members of the legislature as a whole, whether in a joint session or separate sessions | |||
Number of yes votes required:[2] 58  | |||
| Yes | No | Not voting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 58 | 41 | 1 |
| Total percent | 58% | 41% | 1% |
| Democrat | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Republican | 58 | 0 | 0 |
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Montana State Legislature, "HB 316," accessed March 31, 2025
- ↑ Since Montana requires a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of all members of the legislature taken together, as long as there are enough yes votes in the first chamber to make passage possible (i.e., 50 in the House and 0 in the Senate), the proposal moves to the next chamber. However, a vote of less than a two-thirds majority in the first chamber requires a vote of more than two-thirds in the second chamber.
