They say several factors — including the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down federal protections for abortion rights, intensifying political pushback against sex education, and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on youth mental health — could start to unravel decades of progress.

Judge Christopher Abbott wrote in his ruling that the case is far from over, but that the state has no compelling interest to require licenses from abortion providers when the state cannot yet issue any. He wrote the court must maintain the status quo while the constitutionality of law is hashed out.

Our AG should protect all Montanans’ safety. Instead of emboldening harassment and intimidation tactics, AG Knudsen should ensure that we live up to our values of privacy, freedom and compassion.

Safety Zones are essential and should be strengthened, not dissolved.

The legal challenge against House Bill 937 is not over: A temporary restraining order blocks the new law from taking effect until further arguments on a lengthier injunction, which would put the brakes on that law over the duration of the case.

“What we are practicing here is not voodoo,” said Katherine Mistretta, a family nurse practitioner who is one of the plaintiffs in the Montana lawsuit. “I think our justice system will see that there’s enough science to support this, that they will understand that this is appropriate care.”

A state district court judge in Missoula has blocked Montana’s ban on medical care for minors with gender dysphoria from taking effect while a lawsuit over its constitutionality continues, finding that the new law appears to have “no rational relationship to protecting children.”

Abbott wrote that the providers had established an actual controversy in the suit, that a restraining order was in the public interest, and that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their argument that the section of the new law “violates the right to individual privacy in the absence of a means of obtaining a license.”

“We are so thankful for this opportunity to protect trans youth, their families, and their medical providers from this baseless and dangerous law,” Malita Picasso, the ACLU staff attorney who presented the plaintiffs’ case at the Sept. 17 court hearing, said. “While this fight is not over, every day that transgender Montanans are able to access this care is a critical and life-saving victory. We will never stop opposing this ban and all others like it until every transgender person has the care and support they need to thrive.”

Although Judge Jason Marks said his findings are “not binding at trial,” he found SB 99 likely discriminates based on a person’s status as transgender and also found it likely tramples on the right to privacy guaranteed in the Montana Constitution.

“We’re not just talking about numbers or statistics, Your Honor, we’re talking about real people who are suffering real harms, and those people include people who are sitting in this room today,” said Malita Picasso, a staff attorney with the national ACLU.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have argued that SB 99 bans “a wide range of medical treatments and procedures when, and only when, they are provided to transgender youth for the purpose of treating gender dysphoria.” In doing so, attorneys say, the law violates myriad constitutional rights, including equal protection under the law, privacy, dignity, parental autonomy and the right to seek health.

The DOJ called on the Supreme Court to take up the case by arguing that lower courts erred in several ways, including by making “serious legal errors.”

“The court scarcely acknowledged FDA’s detailed analysis of the available scientific evidence,” DOJ wrote. “Instead, it faulted FDA for failing to cite studies that do not exist and for failing to explicitly respond to unfounded objections that were not raised during the administrative process.”

“Abortion care is already subject to government oversight and regulation, and it is incredibly safe and necessary health care. Yet abortion providers like myself have faced relentless attacks for providing care to our communities. This newest attack has nothing to do with patient safety, it is designed to harass us and our patients,” Weems said in the press release.

“To the extent HB 937 requires Plaintiffs to obtain abortion-specific facility licensure, it violates Montanans’ right to access abortion from their chosen health care provider,” the filing read. “As this Court and the Montana Supreme Court have repeatedly concluded, singling out abortion care for unique and additional regulation infringes individuals’ fundamental right to abortion.”

“Planned Parenthood of Montana providers and health center staff are mandatory reporters. We hold the health and safety of our patients above all else, and our health centers comply with all laws regarding reporting abuse,” said Mary Sullivan, communications coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Montana. “Baseless claims of violations from the Attorney General do not protect survivors of violence. These statements aren’t about prosecuting crimes but rather serve his political interests in undercutting health care and privacy for Montanans.”

“Transgender men, two-spirit people, non-binary people, gender non-conforming folks, and cisgender women all need abortion care. By using gender-inclusive language, we are not erasing the individual struggles each of these groups have faced. Instead, we acknowledge that these struggles for bodily autonomy and agency over our specific healthcare needs are inexorably linked,” MAAP wrote.

More than 6,000 people, and several hundred dogs, congregated on either side of Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena Saturday morning to cheer on the Pride parade.

Including Helena, there have been 12 Pride celebrations across Montana this summer, the most ever held in the state, says Kevin Hamm, the lead coordinator for Montana Pride. And these celebrations come after a legislative session that saw a series of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

If anything, the crowd, a hodgepodge of Billings hipsters and cowboys in wide hats and pearl snapped shirts, got even louder after McMurtry appeared in drag. Great art can act as a bridge, a common ground for disparate groups to meet, as people.

Rev. Amber Dixson told the Daily Montanan on Monday the girls came to the church Saturday with their parents to confess to ripping the flag and bringing the sign before going to police. Dixson previously told the Daily Montanan the flag had been flying for several years without incident.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana has named a new executive director, tapping senior staff attorney Akilah Maya Deernose to lead the advocacy organization. Deernose is the first Black woman and LGBTQ+ person to lead the ACLU of Montana, the organization said. As senior staff attorney, she’s worked as lead counsel in lawsuits challenging Montana’s 2021 transgender birth certificate law as well as Senate Bill 99, a 2023 law preventing trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care.