BOZEMAN, Mont. — It’s an unseasonably warm afternoon in Bozeman, and Jackie Johnston has at least two dozen doors to knock on before she calls it a day.
Johnston is a longtime Democrat, and she has canvassed for multiple candidates over the years. But she began knocking on doors to talk about abortion rights for a personal reason: her daughter’s ectopic pregnancy three years ago.
A few months later, a Supreme Court decision would end national abortion protections, triggering bans, legislative battles, and a string of voter referendums about abortion rights. Johnston is out drumming up support for a measure to protect the right to abortion in her state’s constitution. Montana is home to only a handful of abortion providers, but has quickly become a safe haven for abortion care in the rural West, raising the stakes as voters head to the polls.
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