As States Seek to Limit Abortions, Montana Wants to Redefine What Is Medically Necessary

Under the health department’s new proposal, abortions would be determined to be medically necessary only when a physician — not another type of provider — certifies a patient suffers from an illness, condition, or injury that threatens their life or has a physical or psychological condition that would be “significantly aggravated” by pregnancy.

Elsewhere, courts have rejected some states’ attempts to create a definition for medically necessary abortions apart from existing Medicaid standards as constitutional violations of equal protection.