Ruled it is unconstitutional to require a minor to get parental consent for an abortion.
The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously struck down Montana’s 2013 law requiring minors to get consent from a parent to obtain an abortion as unconstitutional, saying it violates their right to privacy and that the state had shown no compelling interest existed for imposing the extra requirements.
The court’s opinion, written by Justice Laurie McKinnon, upholds a Lewis and Clark County District Court’s decision from February 2023, which also found that the law, which has been enjoined for 11 years, violated the Montana Constitution and the Supreme Court’s prior holdings in Armstrong vs. State of Montana and Weems vs. State of Montana.
In the Armstrong decision, the court found that a person’s right to privacy in the constitution includes the right to procreative autonomy. The Weems decision expanded the scope of providers that were allowed to perform abortions in Montana.
McKinnon wrote in the opinion on the Consent Act released Wednesday that the legislature, in passing the act, created a classification for minors seeking abortions separate from pregnant minors who are not seeking abortions, which she wrote “violates the fundamental right of a minor to control their body and destiny … without adequate justification from the State, and cannot be sustained against Plaintiffs’ privacy and equal protection challenges.”
“A minor’s right to dignity, autonomy, and the right to choose are embedded in the liberties found in the Montana Constitution,” McKinnon wrote. “Because a minor’s right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses, and because the State has failed to demonstrate a real and significant relationship between the statutory classification and the ends asserted, we hold that the Consent Act violates the Constitution of the State of Montana.”
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The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously struck down Montana’s 2013 law requiring minors to get consent from a parent to obtain an abortion as unconstitutional, saying it violates their right to privacy and that the state had shown no compelling interest existed for imposing the extra requirements.
The court’s opinion, written by Justice Laurie McKinnon, upholds a Lewis and Clark County District Court’s decision from February 2023, which also found that the law, which has been enjoined for 11 years, violated the Montana Constitution and the Supreme Court’s prior holdings in Armstrong vs. State of Montana and Weems vs. State of Montana.
In the Armstrong decision, the court found that a person’s right to privacy in the constitution includes the right to procreative autonomy. The Weems decision expanded the scope of providers that were allowed to perform abortions in Montana.
McKinnon wrote in the opinion on the Consent Act released Wednesday that the legislature, in passing the act, created a classification for minors seeking abortions separate from pregnant minors who are not seeking abortions, which she wrote “violates the fundamental right of a minor to control their body and destiny … without adequate justification from the State, and cannot be sustained against Plaintiffs’ privacy and equal protection challenges.”
“A minor’s right to dignity, autonomy, and the right to choose are embedded in the liberties found in the Montana Constitution,” McKinnon wrote. “Because a minor’s right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses, and because the State has failed to demonstrate a real and significant relationship between the statutory classification and the ends asserted, we hold that the Consent Act violates the Constitution of the State of Montana.”
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