Abortion in Montana

2024 Montana Initiative 128 results map by county

Abortion in Montana is legal until fetal viability (or until full term, if a medical professional deems it important to protect life or health).[1] The number of abortion clinics in Montana has fluctuated over the years, with twenty in 1982, twelve in 1992, eight providers of which seven were clinics in 2011, and five clinics in 2014. There were four clinics from 2015 to February 2018 when All Families Healthcare clinic in Whitefish reopened. There were 1,690 legal abortions in 2014, and 1,611 in 2015.

2024 Montana Initiative 128 is a ballot initiative that was approved from the ballot on November 5, 2024; amending the Constitution of Montana to explicitly confer a right to abortion up to fetal viability.[2][3][1]

## History

[edit]

### Legislative history

[edit]

In 1997, the Montana Legislature passed a law that said only physicians could perform abortions. After a lawsuit, they changed the law to allow nurse practitioners to perform abortions.[4]

As of 2017, California, Oregon, Montana, Vermont, and New Hampshire allow qualified non-physician health professionals, such as physicians' assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives, to do first-trimester aspiration abortions and to prescribe drugs for medical abortions.[5] As of May 1, 2018, there were no major legal restrictions on abortions.[6]

As of May 14, 2019, the Montana Legislature prohibited abortions after the fetus was viable, generally some point between week 24 and 28. This period uses a standard defined by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling.[7] In 2018, advanced practice clinicians were legally allowed to provide abortion services. This group included physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, and advanced practice nurses.[4]

In November 2022, Montana voters rejected a measure that would have given embryos and fetuses legal personhood status.[8]

### Judicial history

[edit]

The Supreme Court of the United States' decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[9] However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) later in 2022.[10][11]

In 1997, All Families Healthcare took the state to court to challenge its law stating that only physicians could perform abortions.[4] In April 2018, two nurses succeeded in getting an injunction as part of a lawsuit against the state to try to allow advanced practice nurses to perform abortions. Montana's Attorney General Tim Fox appealed the injunction.[4]

A 2024 Montana Supreme Court decision established that minors do not need parental consent to have an abortion, overruling a state law.[12]

### Clinic history

[edit]

Number of abortion clinics in Montana by year

See also: Abortion clinic

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by eight, going from twenty in 1982 to twelve in 1992.[13] All Families Healthcare opened in 1994.[4]

On March 29, 1993, at the Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, Montana, at around 1 a.m., an arsonist snuck onto the premises and firebombed the clinic. The perpetrator, a Washington man, was ultimately caught, convicted and imprisoned. The facility was a near-total loss, but all of the patients' records, though damaged, survived the fire in metal file cabinets.[14][15][16][17]

In 2011, there were eight abortion providers in the state, of which seven were classified as abortion clinics.[6] In 2014, there were five abortion clinics in the state.[6][18] 93% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 55% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[19] In March 2016, there were five Planned Parenthood clinics in the state.[20][4]

In 2017, there were five Planned Parenthood clinics in a state with a population of 215,806 women aged 15–49 of which four offered abortion services.[21] In 2018, the closest abortion clinics to Flathead Valley were in Missoula, Great Falls, Helena or Billings. These were all over 100 miles away, requiring women to travel great distances to have an abortion. All Families Healthcare clinic in Whitefish closed for four years in early 2015, before reopening in February 2018.[4]

## Statistics

[edit]

In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were zero recorded illegal abortion death in the state.[22] In 1990, 84,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[13] Between 2011 and 2014, the abortion rate in Montana declined 26%.[6] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 180 abortions, 0 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 10 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 0 abortions for women of all other races.[23] In 2014, 56% of Montana adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal while 38% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases.[24] The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 57% of Montanans said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.[25] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.[26]

Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996[27] Census division and state | Number | Rate | % change 1992–1996

|
|
|

1992 | 1995 | 1996 | 1992 | 1995 | 1996
US Total | 1,528,930 | 1,363,690 | 1,365,730 | 25.9 | 22.9 | 22.9 | –12
Mountain | 69,600 | 63,390 | 67,020 | 21 | 17.9 | 18.6 | –12
Arizona | 20,600 | 18,120 | 19,310 | 24.1 | 19.1 | 19.8 | –18
Colorado | 19,880 | 15,690 | 18,310 | 23.6 | 18 | 20.9 | –12
Idaho | 1,710 | 1,500 | 1,600 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 6.1 | –15
Montana | 3,300 | 3,010 | 2,900 | 18.2 | 16.2 | 15.6 | –14
Nevada | 13,300 | 15,600 | 15,450 | 44.2 | 46.7 | 44.6 | 1
New Mexico | 6,410 | 5,450 | 5,470 | 17.7 | 14.4 | 14.4 | –19
Utah | 3,940 | 3,740 | 3,700 | 9.3 | 8.1 | 7.8 | –16
Wyoming | 460 | 280 | 280 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | –37
Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates  Location | Residence | Occurrence | % obtained by

out-of-state residents

| Year | Ref

|
|
|
|
|

No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^ | No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^
Montana | 1,504 | 8.1 | 121 | 1,690 | 9.1 | 136 | 13.4 | 2014 | [28]
Montana | 1,433 | 7.7 | 114 | 1,611 | 8.6 | 128 | 13.3 | 2015 | [29]
Montana  | 1,503  | 8.0  | 122  | 1,618  | 8.6  | 132  | 9.8  | 2016  | [30]
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births

## Abortion financing

[edit]

Seventeen states including Montana use their own funds to cover all or most "medically necessary" abortions sought by low-income women under Medicaid, thirteen of which are required by State court orders to do so.[31] In 2010, the state had 422 publicly funded abortions, of which were 5 federally funded and 417 were state funded.[32]

In 2018, women in Flathead Valley were waiting for insurance companies to pay for IUDs or implants. While waiting for the company to pay, they got pregnant and ended up getting an abortion.[4]

## Abortion rights views and activities

[edit]

### Clinic protection

[edit]

Around 100 volunteers support All Families Healthcare. This included driving women long distances for appointments, escorting patients inside and shoveling the sidewalk outside the clinic.[4]

### Protests

[edit]

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.[33]

Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, several abortion rights protests and marches were held across the state in late June and early July, including in the state capital of Helena where more than a thousand protestors gathered.[34] Other protests were held in Bozeman,[35] Missoula,[36] Billings,[37] and Great Falls.[38]

On June 21, 2024, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights announced that they had turned in over 117,000 signatures from all 56 counties for their petition to put a state constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the November 2024 ballot, almost double the 60,000 signatures required and the most signatures for a single ballot initiative in Montana history.[39]

On October 12, 2024, an abortion rights protest supporting 2024 Montana Initiative 128 was held in Helena, Montana at the Montana State Capitol.[40]

## Anti-abortion views and activities

[edit]

### Activities

[edit]

In 2018, anti-abortion rights activists regularly protested outside All Families Healthcare.[4]

### Violence

[edit]

On March 29, 1993, at Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula, Montana; at around 1 a.m., an arsonist snuck onto the premises and firebombed the clinic. The perpetrator, a Washington man, was ultimately caught, convicted and imprisoned. The facility was a near-total loss, but all of the patients' records, though damaged, survived the fire in metal file cabinets.[41][42]

On March 4, 2014, 24-year-old Zachary Klundt broke into All Families Healthcare in Kalispell, Montana and destroyed everything inside the clinic. He was arrested and charged with six felony charges, including three counts of theft, one of burglary, one of attempted burglary, and one of criminal mischief. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution.[43][44]

On October 5, 2023, an unknown individual fired two shotgun rounds into the front entrance of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Helena, Montana.[45]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Zernike, Kate (November 6, 2024). "Montana Voters Approve Abortion Ballot Measure". Archived from the original on November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
2. ^ Zernike, Kate (August 21, 2024). "Montana Certifies Signatures for November Abortion Question". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
3. ^ "Montana becomes eighth state with ballot measure seeking to protect abortion rights". AP News. August 21, 2024. Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ouellet, Nicky (October 3, 2018). "Nurses Fight To Expand Abortion Access In Montana". www.mtpr.org. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
5. ^ "Study: Abortions Are Safe When Performed By Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Certified Nurse Midwives". Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
6. ^ a b c d "State Facts About Abortion: Montana". Guttmacher Institute. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
7. ^ Lai, K. K. Rebecca (May 15, 2019). "Abortion Bans: 8 States Have Passed Bills to Limit the Procedure This Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
8. ^ "Montana voters reject so-called 'Born Alive' ballot measure". NPR. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
9. ^ Buell, Samuel (January 1, 1991). "Criminal Abortion Revisited". New York University Law Review. 66 (6): 1774–1831\. PMID 11652642. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
10. ^ de Vogue, Ariane (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
11. ^ Howe, Amy (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
12. ^ "Montana Supreme Court rules minors don't need parental permission for abortion". AP News. August 14, 2024. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
13. ^ a b Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. Diane Publishing. ISBN 9780788174810.
14. ^ "- History". Blue Mountain Clinic. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
15. ^ "A choice alternative Archived 2015-07-02 at the Wayback Machine". Missoula News. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
16. ^ MCAT Community Media (October 25, 2013), Blue Mountain Clinic Aftermath, archived from the original on December 11, 2015, retrieved May 22, 2019
17. ^ "Arson suspected in abortion clinic fire Archived June 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine". Amarillo Globe-News. Associated Press. May 30, 2000.
18. ^ Gould, Rebecca Harrington, Skye. "The number of abortion clinics in the US has plunged in the last decade — here's how many are in each state". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
19. ^ Panetta, Grace; lee, Samantha (August 4, 2018). "This is what could happen if Roe v. Wade fell". Business Insider (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
20. ^ Bohatch, Emily. "27 states with the most Planned Parenthood clinics". thestate. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
21. ^ "Here's Where Women Have Less Access to Planned Parenthood". Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
22. ^ Cates, Willard; Rochat, Roger (March 1976). "Illegal Abortions in the United States: 1972–1974". Family Planning Perspectives. 8 (2): 86–92\. doi:10.2307/2133995. JSTOR 2133995. PMID 1269687.
23. ^ "No. of abortions among women aged 15–19, by state of residence, 2013 by racial group". Guttmacher Data Center. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
24. ^ "Views about abortion by state". Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
25. ^ "Abortion Views in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI's 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI". PRRI | At the intersection of religion, values, and public life. May 2, 2024. Archived from the original on October 30, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
26. ^ "States pushing abortion bans have highest infant mortality rates". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
27. ^ Henshaw, Stanley K. (June 15, 2005). "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996". Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 30: 263–270\. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
28. ^ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2017). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2014". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 66 (24): 1–48\. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6624a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 29166366.
29. ^ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2018). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2015". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 67 (13): 1–45\. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6713a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 30462632.
30. ^ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2019). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 68 (11): 1–41\. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6811a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 31774741. Archived from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
31. ^ Francis Roberta W. "Frequently Asked Questions". Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul Institute. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
32. ^ "Guttmacher Data Center". data.guttmacher.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
33. ^ Bacon, John. "Abortion rights supporters' voices thunder at #StopTheBans rallies across the nation". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
34. ^ Ambarian, Jonathon (June 26, 2022). "More than a thousand march on Montana Capitol opposing Roe v. Wade overturn". KTVH. Archived from the original on June 16, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
35. ^ Merkel, Kristin (July 5, 2022). "Bozeman protesters march for reproductive rights: "I will not go quietly back to the 1950s"". KBZK. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
36. ^ Serbin, Bret Anne (June 26, 2022). "Missoula abortion rights advocates urge action at rally". Missoulian. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
37. ^ Schabacker, Emily (June 24, 2022). "Abortion ruling prompts protest in Billings, with varying reactions across the state". Billings Gazette. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
38. ^ Juneau, Brianna (June 25, 2022). "Protesters rally in Great Falls against Roe v. Wade repeal (video)". KRTV. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
39. ^ Mueller, Julia (June 21, 2024). "Montana organizers submit signatures to add abortion-rights measure to the ballot". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
40. ^ "Helena Rally for Reproductive Rights". Flathead Democrats. October 12, 2024. Archived from the original on November 27, 2024. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
41. ^ "- History". Blue Mountain Clinic. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
42. ^ "A choice alternative". Missoula News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
43. ^ "A Year Later, Fallout from Destroyed Clinic Lingers". flatheadbeacon.com. March 18, 2015. Archived from the original on December 31, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
44. ^ "Klundt Sentenced To 20 Years For Kalispell Abortion Clinic Vandalism". Montana Public Radio. June 18, 2015. Archived from the original on December 31, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
45. ^ Silvers, Mara (October 6, 2023). "Shots fired into front of Planned Parenthood clinic in Helena". Montana Free Press. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.

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