Political Updates
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NARAL P.O. Box 279 |
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Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Pattision (R-Glasgow)
While the sponsor of the bill claimed it protected a woman who suffered the injury to or loss of a fetus as the result of a criminal act, the protection afforded by the bill was actually for the fetus only, instead of the woman. If HB 730 had passed, it's possible that every woman who suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term delivery or low birth weight baby could have been investigated and prosecuted for criminal conduct. HB 730 failed in House Judiciary committee.
HB 730 never made it to the floor for a vote.
Why NARAL Pro-Choice Montana was against HB 730: If the goal is to more severely punish crimes against pregnant women, there are better ways. For example, harsher penalities for crimes against a pregnat woman can be established. There is no need, aside from undermining Roe v. Wade, to define the fetus as separate from the woman.
Talking Points:
The bill exempted “acts that cause the death of an unborn child if those acts were committed during a legal abortion to which the pregnant woman consented.” This language fails to cover abortions performed without a woman’s consent due to medical emergencies.
There is no exemption for self-abortion. Prosecutions for self-abortion have occurred even in the absence of fetal protection laws and provide cruel examples of what might result from such legislation.
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