One of the more interesting developments in abortion politics in recent years is the effort by some pro-life activists to qualify statewide ballot initiatives that define a fertilized embryo as a human being, with all legal protections. A measure reached the ballot in Colorado last year and lost. But activists in that state and in Montana are trying again, with an eye on the 2010 elections.

These measures are unlikely to win -- because the concept of personhood initiatives has not been embraced by much of the pro-life movement. In Montana, for example, several leading pro-life groups are declining to back the measure because they think the personhood approach has little strategic value. In particular, pro lifers are concerned that personhood initaitives accept the logic of Roe v. Wade -- that viability of the fetus is a bright line for legalized abortion -- and thus would strengthen that precedent. So these initiatives come from smaller, less established pro-life groups--they are grass roots. More details via Christian Post.

Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church in East Helena, Montana, had supported a 2004 ballot initiative declaring that marriage was between a man and a woman. So state officials said the church was an "incidental campaign committee" and had to disclose its expenditures. A federal appeals court ruled this week that the state got it wrong and violated the church's First Amendment rights in the process, according to the AP.

Check out the end of this story in the Great Falls Tribune about an attempt to regulate the pay day loan business in Montana. After the bill failed to get out of a legislative committee, one backer pledged to take the regulatory proposal to the people in the form of a ballot initiative.

Today's final Democratic presidential primaries have focused public and media attention on South Dakota and Montana, two largely rural western states that get the last vote in the 2008 primary season. Here's something else these two states have in common: They're both early education laggards.

South Dakota and Montana are two of only 11 states without any kind of state pre-k program. (Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states comprise the majority of laggards here--North Dakota, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming also lack pre-k.) Nor are they among the 9 states that provide full-day kindergarten for all children. In fact, both states' finance systems actually create a disincentive for school districts to offer full-day kindergarten, because school districts receive the same money per kindergartener regardless of whether they offer half- or full-day kindergarten programs. South Dakota, however, provides the same amount of state funding for kindergarten as it does for other grades, while Montana provides school districts with only half as much money per kindergartener. And neither state rates well on the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies' ranking of state standards and oversight for childcare centers and family care homes.

UPDATED APRIL 4 After two nights of contacting gatherers and reading initiatives from all over the country (AND SOME EXCELLENT CORRECTIONS ON ARKANSAS AND MICHIGAN FROM Ballotpedia), here's my report on what's "on the street" and circulating in this great democratic land of ours. Please let me know if you think I'm missing important measures. For a more progressive take and focus, you can look at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center's issues map.

In blockbuster democracy, when one says that a measure is "on the street," he or she means that the measure is being circulated by signature gatherers.

Here's some new stuff on the street. An anti-abortion initiative in Missouri. A measure to expand access to children's health insurance in Montana