Aaron Flint, the Republican nominee for Montana's 1st Congressional District, defends the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, whose Medicaid work requirements, the Guttmacher Institute estimates, put at risk the coverage of 2.1 million women of childbearing age. Montana began enforcing its work requirement on October 1, 2026.
In 2024, Flint campaigned on his radio blog against Montana's abortion-rights amendment, CI-128, which 57.76% of Montana voters approved. The same law blocked Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood of Montana's four health centers for most of a year.
Aaron Flint's Positions on Abortion Rights and the Law's Reproductive Health Cuts
- Flint Defends the Law Whose Medicaid Work Rules Threaten Coverage for 2.1 Million Women of Childbearing Age. In a campaign release on October 13, 2026, Aaron Flint's campaign faulted his Democratic opponent, Sam Forstag, because he "has promised to repeal the One Big Beautiful Bill," and said Flint would put the law's rural health money to work. That law requires adults on the Medicaid expansion to prove 80 hours a month of work or an exemption, and Montana has enforced the requirement since October 1, 2026. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that the work rules by themselves "threaten to eliminate Medicaid coverage for 2.1 million women aged 19-49" nationwide, women who would lose a source of payment for contraception, cancer screenings, prenatal care and births.
- Flint Opposed Montana's Abortion-Rights Amendment, Which 58 Percent of Montana Voters Approved in 2024. On September 17, 2024, Aaron Flint wrote on his Montana Talks blog that the political left was "trying to get abortion enshrined in the Montana Constitution with some very deceptive language" through CI-128. Montana voters approved CI-128 on November 5, 2024, 345,070 to 252,300, or 57.76% to 42.24%, adding to the state constitution a right to make decisions about one's own pregnancy, including abortion before fetal viability.
- The Law Flint Defends Cut Off Medicaid Payments to Montana's Four Planned Parenthood Centers for Ten Months. The law Aaron Flint's campaign defends barred Medicaid payments for one year to large nonprofit providers that also offer abortion; after a court order in September 2025, the four Planned Parenthood health centers in Montana could no longer bill Medicaid until the provision expired on July 4, 2026. Planned Parenthood of Montana said roughly one third of its 10,000 patients use Medicaid for care such as birth control, STI testing and cancer screenings, and it faced a gap of nearly $1 million in payments, the Daily Montanan reported.
What the Medicaid Changes Aaron Flint Defends Mean for Montana Women and Births
- Montana dropped a planned Medicaid benefit for births. Montana halted a planned Medicaid benefit that would have paid for doulas to support births in areas without maternity care, citing a budget shortfall and fears over the coming federal Medicaid cuts, NPR reported in April 2026 in a story by KFF Health News.
- 38,600 western Montana adults on the Medicaid expansion must prove work. KFF counts 38,600 adults on the Medicaid expansion in Montana's 1st District in 2025, the group now required to document work or an exemption to keep the coverage that pays for their contraception, screenings and prenatal care.
Frequently Asked Questions About Aaron Flint on Abortion and reproductive health
What is Aaron Flint's record on abortion and reproductive health under Trump?
Aaron Flint's campaign defends the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, whose Medicaid work requirements threaten coverage for millions of women of childbearing age and which cut off Medicaid payments to Montana's Planned Parenthood centers from September 2025 to July 2026. In 2024, Flint opposed CI-128, the abortion-rights amendment that most Montana voters approved.
How did Aaron Flint campaign against Montana's abortion-rights amendment?
Aaron Flint used his Montana Talks blog in the fall of 2024 to promote opposition to CI-128, including an October 10, 2024 post sharing a letter from pastors and writing that "Over one hundred faith leaders have signed on" to speak out against the amendment. Before the vote, his blog also promoted the Montana Family Foundation's forums against the measure.
What care did Montanans lose when the law Aaron Flint defends cut off Planned Parenthood's Medicaid payments?
Under the law Aaron Flint's campaign defends, Medicaid patients could not use their coverage at Planned Parenthood's four Montana health centers for family planning, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, birth control and breast exams, services that federal law already kept separate from abortion. The centers tried to steer patients to the Title X family planning program or another Medicaid provider, the Daily Montanan reported.
Last updated: 2026-10-26