Montana governor signs pro-life bills

On Monday, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law three new bills protecting unborn babies. One of the new laws protects infants from abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. The measures also require healthcare providers to give pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion, and they place several restrictions on abortion pills.

Why did the bills pass now?  For 16 years, Democratic governors in Montana had vetoed similar pro-life laws. In 2020, Gianforte, a pro-life Republican, won election as governor. A constitutional amendment that would have defined life as beginning at conception failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority of the state legislature to pass.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Hickman’s report in Vitals about state efforts to protect babies from abortion due to a Down syndrome diagnosis.