From The Montana Catholic Conference, the Church's lobbying arm at the State  Legislature.

Yesterday it was announced that, as of now, there will be at least 4 abortion-related bills up for hearings next week.

Tuesday, January 19 at 8:00 am in House Judiciary:

·        HB 136 (Montana Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act)

·        HB 171 (Montana Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act)

Wednesday, January 20 at 8:00 am in House Judiciary:

·        HB 167 (Referendum to adopt the Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act)

·        HB 140 (Ultrasound bill)

 

Additionally, there is a hearing on HB 113 on Monday, January 18 at 8:00 am in House Judiciary. This bill would prohibit health care providers from:

·        prescribing, provide, or administer puberty-suppressing drugs or cross-sex hormones to a minor to treat gender dysphoria

·        performing gender reassignment surgery on a minor to treat gender dysphoria

·        removing any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue of a minor to treat gender dysphoria

For those testifying by Zoom there are certain steps that need to be taken including submitting no later than 12 noon the day before the hearing, a request to testify remotely. 

Here’s a link describing some of the new ways to participate in the session remotely: https://leg.mt.gov/session/have-your-say/.

Here’s the link for testifying remotely and uploading testimony: https://leg.mt.gov/public-testimony/.

There are MANY other bills we are watching but most are not yet introduced. Even once they are introduced we often don’t know the hearing date/time until just a few days before. Keep monitoring online! http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/law0203w$.startup?P_SESS=20211