Montana’s abortion restriction laws blocked by state judge



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A Montana state judge on Thursday blocked three laws that restrict abortion pending a constitutional review.

Judge Michael Moses, a Yellowstone District Court judge, blocked laws from coming into force at the last minute in response to an August lawsuit by Planned Parenthood, according to The Associated Press.

SUPREME COURT to deliver landmark decisions on abortion, guns and religious rights

Planned Parenthood argued that the laws, which prohibit abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and limit abortion medications, violate the Montana state constitution.

The Montana state legislature passed the laws earlier this year before Republican Montana Governor Greg Gianforte enacted them.

The judge’s ruling comes amid growing tensions over nationwide abortion laws. In May, Governor Greg Abbott signed a law banning abortions once healthcare professionals can detect heart activity, which is usually around six weeks pregnant. This law was also blocked by a judge this week.

Texan law offers citizens a private right of action against those who commit or assist and encourage an abortion that violates the law, but it does not extend to the woman who has undergone the procedure.

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On December 1, the Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenges a Mississippi law that prohibits most abortions when the “probable gestational age of an unborn human” is greater than 15 weeks. Critics claim that a decision in favor of the law could undermine or even lead to the to spill by Roe v. Wade.

Carrie C. Severino, the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said The New York Times, “There are going to be people who are going to lose their minds because of this matter, no matter which direction it takes.”

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