Montana Supreme Court rules minors don't need parental permission for abortion

Montana's Supreme Court ruled that minors don't need their parents' permission to get an abortion in the state

Abortion Montana (Thom Bridge, Independent Record)

Montana’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that minors don’t need their parents’ permission to get an abortion in the state – agreeing with a lower court ruling that found the parental consent law violates the privacy clause in the state constitution.

“We conclude that minors, like adults, have a fundamental right to privacy, which includes procreative autonomy and making medical decisions affecting his or her bodily integrity and health in partnership with a chosen health care provider free from governmental interest,” Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote in the unanimous opinion.

The ruling comes as an initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in the state constitution is expected to be on the Montana ballot in November. County officials have verified enough signatures to qualify the issue for the ballot, supporters have said. The Secretary of State’s Office has to certify the general election ballots by Aug. 22.

The Legislature passed the parental consent law in 2013, but it was blocked by an injunction agreed to by the attorney general at the time and never took effect. A lengthy series of judicial substitutions, recusals and retirements delayed a ruling until last year.

A state judge ruled in February 2023 that the law violated the constitution based on a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that holds the right to privacy includes the right to a pre-viability abortion by the provider of the patient's choice.

The Supreme Court's decision "affirms the right to privacy and we are pleased that the Court upheld the fundamental rights of Montanans today,” said Martha Fuller, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, which challenged the law.

The state had argued the law was needed to protect minors from sexual victimization, protect their psychological and physical wellbeing by ensuring they have parents who could monitor post-abortion complications, protect minors from poorly reasoned decisions and protect parental rights to direct the care, custody and control of their children.

The justices disagreed, noting the state “imposes no corresponding limitation on a minor who seeks medical or surgical care otherwise related to her pregnancy or her child.”

Thirty-six states require parental involvement in a minor's decision to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a policy organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive health care rights. Some states require parental notification, while others also require consent.