Montanans don’t want government in their doctor’s offices, abortion rights activist says
‘A lot of these farmers and ranchers do not want the government involved in their personal business,’ Pro Choice Montana founder Keegan Nashan said.
Keegan Nashan is an abortion rights activist and advocate living in Livingston, Montana. In the days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Nashan founded Pro Choice Montana. Since then, she’s organized events, raised money for abortion funds in the state, and gathered signatures for an abortion rights referendum set to appear on the November ballot.
“Mostly I try to engage a younger demographic of people,” the 31-year-old told the Montana Independent.
Nashan was one of the hundreds of volunteers who gathered signatures for Constitutional Initiative 128, the ballot measure that aims to amend Montana’s Constitution to “prohibit the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability.”
“There’s nobody out there, really, but the people who are around, they don’t like the government,” Nashan said, adding, “There was a lot of verbal abuse that I ended up being on the receiving end of, just asking people to sign it, but I’ve also managed to have, like, really interesting conversations.”
She traveled to the eastern edges of the state, to places such as Forsyth, Wibaux, Baker, and Ekalaka, population 372, according to the Census Reporter. Nashan said she talked to rural Montanas about the difficult topic of abortion.
“A lot of these farmers and ranchers do not want the government involved in their personal business. And I think if you don’t engage people in conversation, or if you come at it from a place of assuming someone’s position, you’ll lose every time,” Nashan said.
When it comes to talking about Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, Nashan says he’s relatable because he’s a “real rancher”.
Nashan said she thinks Tester has the support he does “because of his ability to have just a normal-ass conversation, instead of sounding pretentious and telling you what you need.”
“He’s a bastion of bipartisanship that people don’t really want to look at nowadays as positive, but I think people are really craving,” Nashan said.
Tester is running against Republican candidate and former Bridger Aerospace CEO Tim Sheehy. The outcome of the race could determine which party controls the Senate. Democrats currently hold a slim Senate majority of 51-49.
ABC News’ polling average currently has Sheehy leading Tester 48.6%-44.3%.
