The Montana ProLife Coalition has once again launched a petition drive for a personhood amendment to the state Constitution that would establish rights for the unborn.

It is the third time that the Flathead-based organization has pursued a constitutional amendment in the last few years, and this time organizers are confident they will get enough signatures to put Constitutional Initiative 108 on the ballot for the 2012 general election.

“We’re more organized,” said Dr. Annie Bukacek, president of the Montana ProLife Coalition. “We have about 500 churches on board that will collect signatures, so we’re starting out good.”

The group needs to gather about 49,000 signatures by June 22 to get the initiative on next November’s ballot.

The personhood amendment would include “all human beings from the beginning of their biological development, including conception or fertilization” as being a “person” entitled under the Constitution to certain inalienable rights, including the right to pursue “life’s basic necessities.”

In explaining the amendment, the Montana ProLife Coalition’s website says it will allow legislators to employ the amendment to support anti-abortion legislation and defend that legislation in court.

The website states that the amendment “will not outlaw abortion but will be a stepping stone for future overturning Roe v. Wade,” the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

Ronan Rep. Rick Jore first introduced personhood legislation to the 2007 Legislature, where it fell several votes shy of passing the House.

The following summer, he launched a citizens’ initiative that came up short on getting the required number of signatures.

Sen. Dan McGee, R-Billings, introduced a personhood amendment to the 2009 Legislature that was the first in the country to win simple majorities in both the Senate and House — but two-thirds majorities were required to refer the amendment to the ballot, Bukacek said. 

Another petition campaign was launched in 2010 with backers gathering 53,000 signatures, but about 34 percent of those signatures were disqualified by the Secretary of State’s Office, mostly for procedural reasons.

Bukacek said petition drives typically end with about 10 percent of signatures being disqualified for a variety of reasons, so last year’s effort likely would have fallen short even with that percentage of disqualified signatures.

She is confident the latest effort will be different.

“At this point, we have more than 10 times the number of people as last time on our mailing list and three times the number on our email list,” she said.

“We add to the base daily. In addition to the larger base of volunteers, we are getting started earlier, already have a base of roughly 500 churches and people are motivated and optimistic. Momentum is building.”

Bukacek said that about 3,000 signatures have already been gathered in the Flathead Valley alone.

The petition drive is being supported by the Montana Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches, Assemblies of God and other evangelical churches. It also has been endorsed by Judie Brown, founder and president of the American Life League, the largest Catholic pro-life organization in the U.S.

More information on Constitutional Initiative 108 and the petition can be found online at www.montanaprolifecoalition.org.