Elinor Smith from the University of Montana School of Journalism is providing New Media Broadcasters with reports from the Montana legislative session. This is one of her most recent reports:
HELENA — The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would exclude the right to an abortion from Montanans’ right to privacy. But opponents say because the right to privacy is protected in the constitution, the bill is not in the Legislature’s purview.
Senate Bill 154 is sponsored by Sen. Regier, R-Kalispell, who says that the validity bill hangs on one word: “Individual.”
“There has been advancement in DNA and ultrasound that makes it clear that an abortion is not an individual act. It involves different DNA. It involves another set of fingerprints. It involves another individual. A right to privacy should not apply to an abortion any more than a right to privacy applying to child abuse or abusing a spouse. Those acts include another person and are not acts of individual privacy,” Regier said.
The 14 proponents of the bill included pro-life organizations, Montanans and attorneys. They said that abortion shouldn’t be protected under the umbrella of privacy, and that abortion protections in Montana should be revisited after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Jeff Laszloffy testified for the Montana Family Foundation.
“The so-called right to abortion was entirely a judicially created invention,” Laszloffy said.
Eleven opponents testified against the bill and included Montanans, advocacy organizations and attorneys. Some said even hearing testimony of the bill is a waste of time and money because under the Montana Constitution, only the courts can decide what is constitutional or not. Martha Fuller is the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana and referenced a 1999 state Montana Supreme Court Case that upheld abortion rights.
“As we have heard in 1999, the Armstrong decision made it clear the right to an abortion before viability and from the provider of a patient’s choice is protected in Montana, under the right to privacy embedded in the state constitution. Montana’s right to privacy, it has been said, is one of the strongest in the nation and for good reason. Decisions about our bodies, our healthcare, and our families are the most private decisions we make. It is into that realm that decisions about pregnancy and abortion fall. These are decisions that must be made individually and can only be made by the pregnant person and their healthcare provider,” Fuller said.
According to a legal note from legislative staff attached to the bill, only the courts can decide if abortion is included in Montanans’ constitutional privacy rights. The hearing proceeded despite this note, and when asked why, Regier said the court should reconsider the issue. Governor Greg Gianforte and other Republicans have called on the Montana Supreme Court to revisit the Armstrong decision. Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has called on the Montana Supreme Court to revisit the Armstrong decision.
Sen. Barry Usher, R-Yellowstone County, frequently interrupted opponents to tell them to stay on the topic of privacy. Sen. Jen Gross, D-Billings, spoke up with concerns about Usher’s behavior, saying opponents should be allowed to talk about abortion while testifying against a bill that addresses it.
“This bill is two sentences long. …The word abortion is in the bill twice in those two sentences. Government funding of abortion is in the bill in those two sentences. And I think that the opponents are on the bill and I would appreciate it if we could allow them to speak,” Gross said.
The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.
