Looks like the Montana State Supreme Court did not get the right-wing memo!
The Montana Supreme Court unanimously extended abortion protections in the state on Friday – amid an ongoing effort by the GOP governor and legislators to erode women’s medical rights.
In a 7-0 decision, the Treasure State’s highest court sided with an advanced practice nurse practitioner and a clinician who challenged a 2005 law that restricted who could provide abortion services.
“Under Montana’s Constitution, the right of individual privacy—that is, the right of personal autonomy or the right to be let alone—is fundamental,” the court noted, citing precedent. “It is, perhaps, one of the most important rights guaranteed to the citizens of this State, and its separate textual protection in our Constitution reflects Montanans’ historical abhorrence and distrust of excessive governmental interference in their personal lives.”
Earlier, a district court invalidated that same law, “Control of Practice of Abortion,” which restricts providers of abortion care to physicians and physician assistants, saying that the legislature violated a woman’s “fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing” when enacting it.
Earlier this month, the Montana legislature passed – and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed – a series of laws to roll back women’s abortion rights – including an effort to further strengthen the law just found unconstitutional by limiting abortions to physicians alone. That law would likely be considered a dead letter.
Republicans also passed a bill that aims to undo the precedent, the 1999 Armstrong case, on which the state’s highest court relied in deciding the latest case, stylized as Weems v. Montana.
That law will also likely be overturned if and when the court takes up the matter.
The Montana Supreme Court unanimously extended abortion protections in the state on Friday – amid an ongoing effort by the GOP governor and legislators to erode women’s medical rights.
In a 7-0 decision, the Treasure State’s highest court sided with an advanced practice nurse practitioner and a clinician who challenged a 2005 law that restricted who could provide abortion services.
“Under Montana’s Constitution, the right of individual privacy—that is, the right of personal autonomy or the right to be let alone—is fundamental,” the court noted, citing precedent. “It is, perhaps, one of the most important rights guaranteed to the citizens of this State, and its separate textual protection in our Constitution reflects Montanans’ historical abhorrence and distrust of excessive governmental interference in their personal lives.”
Earlier, a district court invalidated that same law, “Control of Practice of Abortion,” which restricts providers of abortion care to physicians and physician assistants, saying that the legislature violated a woman’s “fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing” when enacting it.
Earlier this month, the Montana legislature passed – and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed – a series of laws to roll back women’s abortion rights – including an effort to further strengthen the law just found unconstitutional by limiting abortions to physicians alone. That law would likely be considered a dead letter.
Republicans also passed a bill that aims to undo the precedent, the 1999 Armstrong case, on which the state’s highest court relied in deciding the latest case, stylized as Weems v. Montana.
That law will also likely be overturned if and when the court takes up the matter.
