Proposed abortion ban in Manhattan fails after strong pushback from town
Nearly 40 people spoke during the meeting, with the majority against the ordinance. Many questioned why the council was considering the ordinance when other issues, like Manhattan’s infrastructure, needed attention.
The ordinance’s enforcement mechanism was also a point of contention. Opponents of the ordinance stated that the proposed local law would turn neighbors into vigilantes, and have people spying on one another.
Others were concerned by an infusion of personal religious beliefs into a proposed local law.
Manhattan Town Attorney Jane Mersen said during the meeting that the ordinance was illegal.
She believed that it would violate the Montana Constitution and the Armstrong Decision — a Montana Supreme Court case that determined that the right to privacy in the state’s constitution included the right to access abortion.
Mersen said she did not see a reason for the ordinance, and that the town would not be able to afford the litigation that could come from passing the proposed local law.
“I think that it is an attempt to legislate moral and religious beliefs from the council, and I know that you will be sued for it,” Mersen said.
The failed ordinance was the product of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn organization, a Texas-based group that has gotten similar laws passed in 65 other cities across the nation.