“We’re not just talking about numbers or statistics, Your Honor, we’re talking about real people who are suffering real harms, and those people include people who are sitting in this room today,” said Malita Picasso, a staff attorney with the national ACLU.

“Even before the Armstrong decision in Montana, our courts said that you can’t discriminate against people because they’re lower-income and deny them access to health care – and that includes abortion care,” Graybill said.

A Montana District Court has temporarily blocked a new state ban on a specific abortion procedure commonly used after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Menahan notes in his ruling the law may be in violation of the Montana Constitution.

HB 862 would block using state funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when the woman’s life is in danger. It would bring Montana’s laws in line with the longstanding federal policy called the Hyde Amendment.

Montana has had a different standard. Since a 1995 court ruling, the state has used its own general funds to cover abortions that have been determined to be “medically necessary,” even if the mother’s life isn’t endangered.

Friday is the transmittal deadline, when any bill that doesn’t appropriate money or affect state revenues must pass through at least one chamber in order to keep moving forward. On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee held initial hearings on more than a dozen bills, including two that would tighten regulations on abortion in Montana.