Lawyers question if bill on Montana privacy rights and abortions is constitutional
Montana taxpayers might again be on the hook to pay for the state to defend a law that is unconstitutional, according to opponents of a bill that aims to declare that the right to an abortion should not be covered as a privacy right under the state Constitution.
Senate Bill 154, sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, seeks to add language to statute that declares that “the right of individual privacy … does not create, and may not be construed as creating or recognizing, a right to abortion or to governmental funding of abortion.”
The Montana Supreme Court, in the 1999 Armstrong vs. State decision, found that the right to privacy means a woman can choose to have an abortion “unless the state can demonstrate a compelling interest for infringing the right,” according to a legal note added to the bill. It said the legislation “raises potential conformity issues” with the Montana Constitution.
While the Senate Judiciary Committee heard roughly equal amounts of testimony in favor and opposed to the bill Tuesday morning, several attorneys opposed to the bill said lawmakers do not have the authority under the Constitution to interpret the law.
“It doesn’t take an expert in constitutional law to know that this bill is blatantly unconstitutional,” said Mike Meloy, an attorney and former legislator. “All this bill is going to do is create a challenge that is going to succeed because you don’t have the authority to pass this bill.”