Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a group of bills Wednesday to restrict access to abortion. While abortion continues to remain legal in Montana, these new legislative pieces remove the shade abortionists have enjoyed in the state. This comes as many states set their sights on a post-roe legislative field.
Gianforte released a statement Wednesday, along with the collection of bills which, according to CNN, stated
“For years in Montana, abortion activists have used the cloak of a shaky legal interpretation to advance their pro-abortion agenda. That stops today,” Gianforte said in a statement Wednesday, describing the new laws as “giving a voice to the voiceless.”
While Gianforte said that the slate of “pro-family, pro-child, pro-life bills will make a lasting difference in Montana,” Democrats and abortion rights advocates argue that the new laws add “unnecessary” provisions to restrict access.
One example of the bill Gianforte passed Wednesday is HB625. Which requires health care providers to give infants care if they are born alive during an abortion or receive fines and imprisonment. Another HB575 would require a patient to have an ultrasound and get in writing the viability of an unborn baby before an ultrasound – though this measure was blocked Thursday by a Montana judge.
