The Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state’s parental consent law requiring a minor to receive a parent’s permission before getting an abortion is unconstitutional.
Passed in 2013, the Parental Consent for Abortion Act was quickly challenged by the abortion industry and halted by the courts. It underwent a lengthy judicial process until a state judge ruled in February 2023 that the law violates the state’s constitution, which guarantees minors fundamental rights. In their unanimous ruling, the justices upheld that ruling, determining that the law violates the state constitution’s guarantee that a minor may “control her own body and destiny.”
“A minor’s right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses,” Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote for the court.
But Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, blasted the court ruling as “radical and out-of-touch.” He said that Knudsen is reviewing any next steps to take, but noted he “will continue to protect the health and well-being of young women in Montana.”
READ: Montana Supreme Court writes ballot language for abortion amendment
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte also criticized the ruling. “As a strong defender of parental rights, I’m deeply concerned and disappointed by today’s ruling from the Montana Supreme Court, which states parents do not have a fundamental right to oversee the medical care of their young daughters,” he said. “In its ruling, the Court has wielded its gavel like a hammer against one of the fundamental rights in our history: the right of parents to consent to the medical care of their minor children.”
Parental consent laws are not in place to harm minors, but to ensure that they are being protected, especially from coercion and potentially abusive situations. There have been numerous cases in which abortion businesses have shown willingness to aid sex traffickers or sex abusers in getting abortions for their victims.
Without parental consent laws in place, the young victim is returned to her abuser without her parent ever knowing that she killed her preborn child. An abortion also always poses a risk to the mother; parental consent laws ensure that no child is going through this dangerous, life-altering procedure without the guidance of a parent.
