Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed five pro-life measures into law on May 3, pledging his commitment to the “cause of life” and promoting a “pro-life, pro-child, pro-family” agenda.
“Today, we’re protecting the lives of the most vulnerable amongst us: unborn children,” he said at a signing ceremony on the steps of the Montana State Capitol in Helena.
“Our Declaration of Independence clearly states that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights—that ‘among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But without life, there is no liberty or the pursuit of happiness.”
Further asserting his belief that “all life is precious and needs to be protected,” the Republican signed a ban on abortions after viability at 24 weeks—except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk—and protections for infants born alive following an attempted abortion.
“Today, we’re giving a voice to the voiceless and help to the helpless,” Gianforte said. “We’re establishing in Montana law that a baby born alive following an attempted abortion is a patient, a human being who deserves life-saving care and the right to life.”
Similar to a ballot measure that Montana voters rejected last year at the ballot box, the Infant Care and Safety Act was amended to allow parents to refuse unreasonable procedures that would prolong the deaths of their babies in cases where death is deemed imminent.
Other measures Gianforte signed on May 3 included legislation cementing the right of medical providers to practice according to their conscience, a bill requiring the reporting of all complications resulting from chemical abortions, and a measure clarifying that the right to privacy in the Montana Constitution doesn’t confer a right to abortion.
Armstrong Decision
In 1999, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in Armstrong v. State that the state’s constitutional right to privacy protected not only a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion but also her right to have an abortion performed by the provider of her choice.The ruling came in response to a legal challenge to a state law that required abortions to be performed by licensed physicians.
“For years in Montana, abortion activists have used the cloak of a shaky legal interpretation to advance their pro-abortion agenda,“ Gianforte said, in referencing that ruling. ”That stops today—no more. We won’t sit back and let these tragedies continue.”
Given the court’s previous ruling, the new law is likely to face a swift legal challenge, as other recent pro-life measures have been in the state.
“This session, we saw an unprecedented number of harmful anti-abortion bills introduced and passed to strip Montanans of their constitutional right to privacy and blatantly attacking Montanans’ private relationships with their doctors,” the lawmakers said. “With these bills, Republicans are supporting government overreach and intrusion into our most intimate decision-making.
Other Measures
In addition to those he signed at the ceremony, the governor spoke favorably of five other pro-life bills recently approved by the legislature that have yet to make it to his desk.Those measures include new licensure requirements for abortion clinics, the requirement of parental notification when minors seek abortions, measures prohibiting the use of public funds—including Medicaid—to obtain abortions except in rare circumstances, and a ban on all dismemberment abortions, save those performed in a medical emergency.
“At just 12 weeks of gestation, an unborn human being can open and close their fingers, sense stimulation from the world outside the womb, and likely experience pain,” Gianforte said. “Dismemberment abortion for non-therapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice dangerous for the mother and demeaning to the medical profession.”
The governor also proposed new tax credits for parents, including a permanent $1,200-per-child tax credit and a $5,000 to $7,500 adoption tax credit.
“Every child deserves a loving home,“ he said. ”Too often, we lose unborn children because their parents don’t feel ready to welcome their child into the world with the support they need and deserve. Adoption, not abortion, is often the answer.
“We will always support life because that’s the outcome we all strive for.”
