Manhattan won’t move ahead with ‘sanctuary city’ ordinance to ban abortion after public outcry
The town of Manhattan won’t move forward with an ordinance to become a “Sanctuary for the Unborn.”
Thursday night, Mayor Glen Clements broke a tied vote on a motion to direct the town lawyer to draft an ordinance for Manhattan to essentially ban abortion, Clements said Friday.
Clements opposed the motion for a 3-2 outcome. He said he believes it’s the first time a city or town in Montana has considered such an ordinance.
“I will say that I’ve never seen the town hall that full,” Clements said. “Every seat was taken, and every square inch of standing room was taken.”
Abortion is legal in Montana with some restrictions.
The mayor said roughly 40 people commented, and by his tally, roughly seven to one opposed any ordinance that would restrict abortion.
Councilor Josh Powell requested the sample ordinance from Texas be placed on the agenda. His comments via remote access Thursday were difficult to discern, and he could not be reached Friday via email.
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Clements said he voted against the ordinance for a couple of reasons.
For one thing, he said the town attorney advised the council that the sample ordinance as written would violate the Montana Constitution’s right to privacy along with case law dealing with abortion.
In response to a question, the lawyer also said an ordinance written to try to comply with Montana law would essentially be meaningless, Clements said.
He said the subject of the sample ordinance came up Monday, and he anticipated public comment might be more closely split. But he said it wasn’t.
The opposition — mostly from locals — influenced him.
“There was so much public comment and outrage against this,” Clements said.