“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.

The lawsuit from Planned Parenthood of Montana and its chief medical officer, Samuel Dickman, M.D., says that House Bill 721 taking effect would enact immediate and irreparable harm on people seeking abortions through dilation and evacuation procedures, which are often used in the second trimester for abortions and miscarriages.

The lawsuit says HB721 would create an effective ban on pre-viability abortions, which the plaintiffs argue is a violation of Montanans’ right to privacy under the state constitution. The bill will take effect immediately should it be signed by Gianforte.

Legislative staff attorneys also said the bill created “potential constitutional conformity issues” with the state Supreme Court’s 1999 ruling granting pre-viability abortion access from a chosen provider.

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.