Political Updates
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NARAL P.O. Box 279 |
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Sponsored by Sen. Dan McGee (R-Laurel).
S.B. 274 was intended to amend the constitution in order to enforce future restrictions on abortion. This amendment would give the government an interest in every fetus from the moment of conception. SB 274 was passed by the Senate (28-22). It was later defeated in the House. Because it was a constitutional amendment, this bill required a 2/3 vote for passage. The bill was killed on the House floor (53-47). It needed 72 votes to pass.
Click below to see how your Montana legislator’s voted: (A yes vote is anti-choice).
Voting Records (pdf)
Why NARAL Pro-Choice Montana was against the amendment: This amendment would endanger the health and safety of pregnant women and threaten our fundamental rights as citizens of Montana. The right to privacy is a fundamental Montana value that must be protected.
Talking Points:
Pregnant women’s privacy would become subverted to the state’s interest in the fetus—even if that contradicts the woman’s own desires. In short, a woman would not be considered capable of making decisions about her own body and her reproductive health.
Because of similar measures, pregnant women across the country have been prosecuted for various behavior the state has objected to during pregnancy including:engaging in physical exercise, sexual intercouse, giving birth at home, or taking prescription or illicit drugs, or alcohol.
The right to privacy encompasses many things: bodily autonomy, medical decisions/medical records, unreasonable search and seizure, and more generally, the right to be left alone. If the Constitution is amended to give the government an interest in the fetus from the moment of conception, it will allow the state to infringe on the protections of privacy for what the state believes is best for the fetus.
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