Montana Governor Signs Five Life-Saving Anti-Abortion Bills Despite Democrat Opposition

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (R) has signed a whopping five pro-life bills into legislation this past week. 

One of the bills signed states that the right to privacy in the state Constitution does not include the right to an abortion, which goes directly against a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling, AP News reported. Montana Senator Keith Regier (R) sponsored the bill and stated “Montana’s Constitution gives us an individual right to privacy. Abortion is not an individual event.”

The bill's intent is for the courts to re-examine the 1999 ruling and hopefully override the precedent. Regier says that they are expecting a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law, stating “It’ll be good for the courts to take a look at it. Let’s get it straightened out.”

Another bill passed will require abortion providers to provide more documentation. One law bans all abortions past the point of viability, which the bill claims can be based on medical improvement but can not exceed 24 weeks. The viability law was sponsored by Montana Representative Lola Sheldon-Galloway (R), who states that she believes “life begins at conception, but our constitution protects us at viability. That needed to be defined.” Planned Parenthood of Montana has already requested that the courts block the vitality bill until a court case is heard, with the bill currently already being in effect. Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Montana, attempted to argue that the new law was “undermining our personal freedom and shaming people who seek abortion.”

The vitality law also makes expectant mothers receive an ultrasound before receiving an abortion, as well as providing proof of their calculation of the gestational age of the unborn baby. 

Another bill will require prior authorization before Medicaid will pay for abortions on pregnancies that are a result of rape, incest, or a threat to the mother's life. The law would require physicians to document the unborn child's gestational age, the reason the expectant mother is seeking an abortion, as well as the number of pregnancies and children the patient has previously had. This would take effect on July 1st. 

Gianforte has also expressed that he will sign another bill that bans the type of surgical abortion that is most used during the second trimester of pregnancies when it arrives on his desk. 

Unsurprisingly, Democrats have expressed their unhappiness will the new bills. Montana House Minority Leader Kim Abbott claims the bills “strip Montanans of their Constitutional right to privacy and blatantly attacking Montanans’ private relationships with their doctors.”

Overall, the bills passing in Montana represent a massive win in the protection of unborn life. These bills will save untold numbers of children from a grim fate they never deserved.