Political Updates
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NARAL P.O. Box 279 |
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NARAL Pro-Choice Montana and NARAL Pro-Choice Montana Foundation are proud
to release the 2007 Montana Legislative Voting Record on Choice for the 60th
Legislature. Click here
to download your copy.
As we look back on the politics of division that characterized the 2007 Legislative
Session, we must celebrate the advancements we were able to make for women’s health in spite of this highly charged environment.
Once again, the pro-choice community in Montana stood up to extremists at the Montana legislature, successfully defeating every anti-choice initiative for the 4th legislative session in a row! And with our partners in the Montana Reproductive Rights Coalition, we were able to secure record levels of family planning funding for 15 clinics in 29 communities across the state of Montana, serving 28,268 women and men.
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana members and supporters were on the front lines of the battle for reproductive rights in Helena. Our grassroots network of supporters sent thousands of e-mails, made thousands of calls into targeted legislative districts, wrote letters to the editor in papers across the state and participated in face to face lobbying visits, ensuring anti-choice messages from a vocal minority did not go unanswered.
The only way we can continue to be effective in protecting women’s rights is to maintain the grassroots pressure our members put on the state legislature to do the right thing.
Please take some time to read through the 2007 Legislative Voting Record on Choice to see if your legislator is representing your pro-choice values.
If you aren't already a member, don't forget to sign up for our Choice Action Network or donate online to become a member of NARAL Pro-Choice Montana. Grassroots pro-choice activists are at the front lines protecting choice in Montana. Join us in being a voice for a pro-choice Montana!
Want to compare this session with last session?
Download the 2005 Legislative Voting
Record on Choice
Choice-Related Bills in the 2005 Legislative Session
Pro-Choice Bills
SB 203-Require Insurance Companies to Cover Contraception, Sponsor Greg
Lind (D-Missoula)
This bill would require insurance companies to cover contraception if they
cover other prescription drugs. This bill is fair and cost-effective. Access
to affordable contraception is central to women's autonomy and equality. This
bill has passed in the Senate, and stalled in the House Business and Labor
Committee, tabled on a 10-8 vote.
HB 324-Clinic Safety, Sponsor Robyn Driscoll (D-Billings)
HB 324 would protect patients from anti-choice harassment and violence by
establishing a buffer zone around reproductive health clinics. The bill would
prevent protesters from coming within eight feet of people entering or exiting
healthcare facilities within 36 feet of the facility, the average distance
between Montana clinics' doors and the public sidewalk. This law would strike
a reasonable and responsible balance between a patient's right to access health
care and a protester's right to free speech. This bill passed in the House
and Senate and now goes to the governor to sign. This is the first piece
of pro-choice legislation ever passed by the Montana Legislature!
HB 231-Fetal Homicide Act, Sponsor Penny Morgan (R-Billings)
This bill's true intent is to undermine the right to privacy by giving separate
legal rights to an embryo or fetus. Disguised as an anti-crime bill, this
is part of a long-term strategy to undermine the legal tenets of Roe v. Wade
and the right to choose. This bill was tabled in committee.
SB 330-Revise Parental Consent Law, Sponsor Duane Grimes (R-Clancy)
Montana courts have already struck down a parental consent law, making SB
330 unconstitutional. Parental consent laws endanger young women who cannot
turn to a parent when faced with an unintended pregnancy because of an abusive
home or for any other reasons that could force them to take matters into their
own hands. This bill was tabled in committee.
HB 617-Require Death Certificates for Abortions, Sponsor Roger Koopman
(R-Bozeman)
The intention of this bill seems to be to shame and demean women who exercise
their right to choose.
The bill would also require women seeking an abortion to disclose the name
of the father and give the father (and her children, parents and others) the
right to access the death certificate. This bill was tabled in committee.
HB 730- Revise Parental Consent Law, Sponsor Mike Lange (R-Billings)
We believe it is ideal for parents to be fully involved when one of their
children is facing any crisis, especially one as important as an unintended
pregnancy. Our laws must protect these women and enable them to get help from
a clergy member, doctor, friend, or other family member when she cannot involve
her parents. Parental consent laws endanger young women who cannot turn to
a parent because they are in an abusive home or other situation in which they
may not want to involve their parents. A similar law has already been struck
down as unconstitutional by Montana courts. Put simply, the government cannot
mandate healthy family communication where it does not already exist, and
there is no law that can account for every situation that a young woman in
crisis may face. This bill passed in the House and was recently tabled in
the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 473-Exclude certain minors receiving abortions from liability caps,
Sponsor Jerry O'Neil (R-Columbia Falls)
This bill is intended to send a message that abortions are unsafe by exempting
them from medical malpractice settlement limits. In reality, legal abortion
is one of the safest and most common medical procedures available today. This
bill was tabled in committee.
All seven anti-choice measures proposed by the Montana Legislature were defeated in 2003.
Check out how your legislators voted. View the 2003 Voting Record
Senator Max Baucus earned a 100% voting record on women's reproductive freedom.
Senator Jon Tester earned a 100% voting record on women's reproductive freedom.
Representative Dennis Rehberg has a 0% voting record on choice issues.
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana: The Political Leader of the Pro-Choice Movement
 |
| NARAL Pro-Choice Montana Foundation members and
allies met with Montana
Senator Max Baucus in Washington D.C. in April, 2004. Senator Baucus
has a lifetime 100% pro-choice voting record. Photo by Delilah Eackman. |
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