Montana Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Abortion Restrictions, Upholding State constitutional Rights
In a important victory for abortion access, the Montana Supreme Court has recently invalidated several state laws that restricted abortion care.The courtS rulings, building on established precedent, have struck down an in-person dispensing requirement, a 24-hour waiting period, and a ban on telemedicine for medication abortions, effectively removing these barriers for patients seeking care in the state.
These decisions reaffirm Montana’s constitutional protections for abortion, first established by the Montana Supreme Court in 1999.This protection was further bolstered in November 2024 when voters approved a constitutional amendment explicitly recognizing an individual’s right to make decisions about pregnancy, including abortion. The amendment stipulates that this right “shall not be burdened unless justified by a compelling government interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
The legal challenges leading to these rulings have been ongoing. Abortion providers in Montana have been actively contesting laws that limit abortion access.In one instance, providers challenged a law that excluded abortion coverage from the state’s Medicaid programme. Their legal strategy relied on existing Montana Supreme Court precedent, which interprets the state constitution’s privacy protections to include the right to abortion. This challenge was initiated before the passage of the new constitutional amendment.
In March 2025, a trial court ruled this Medicaid restriction unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction against it. In a separate, but related, case brought by abortion providers, the Montana Supreme Court recently concluded that several othre restrictions were unconstitutional. These included an in-person dispensing requirement for medication abortion, a mandatory 24-hour waiting period between appointments, and a prohibition on the use of telemedicine for abortion care. Consequently of this ruling, these specific restrictions are no longer in effect in Montana.
Currently, Montana’s gestational limit for abortion is set at fetal viability. However, a state parental consent law remains in effect.
