By Dave Andrusko
Will miracles never cease? CNN—of all media outlets—presented a fair account of the three new laws signed by pro-life Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte.
As NRL News Today has discussed on multiple occasions, the bills had passed both houses, with the added blessing that Gianforte, the first Republican governor in 16 years, had replaced a pro-abortion Democrat.
CNN’s Caroline Kelly quoted Gov. Gianforte at the signing
“Today we’re taking action to protect the most vulnerable amongst us, the unborn — we are celebrating life,” the Republican said at the bill signing Monday, adding that he was “proud to sign three bills that will protect the lives of the unborn.”
He added, according to Holly Michels of the Helena Independent Record,
“There were many who served in this building before us who champion the unborn, people who worked hard to advance the cause of life. ….Unfortunately, their efforts were vetoed. But not today.”
House Bill 136—the Montana Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act–bans abortions performed on pain-capable unborn children who are 20 weeks gestation age. HB 136 passed the state House on a vote of 66-34 and the state Senate by 31-19.
Montana state Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, who sponsored HB136, said, according to Kelly,
that she was confident that had the Supreme Court justices who decided Roe had modern medical “knowledge and proven science before them, they would have made a different decision.”
“I feel it is time that laws catch up with the science of the 21st century,” she added. “It is unethical to intentionally harm the innocence of an immature human being.”
National Right to Life’s State Legislative Director Ingrid Duran added, “Montana’s Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act recognizes the medical fact that an unborn baby can feel great pain during an abortion and deserves protection.”
House Bill 140 offers the opportunity for abortion-minded women to view an ultrasound of their unborn child. The House approved HB 140 on a tally of 68-32 while the Senate’s equally impressive margin was 30-20.
House Bill 171is an omnibus measure which requires women undergoing chemical (or “medication”) abortions to first have an in-person visit. The abortionist must be credentialed in handing complications and risk management. In addition, the abortionist would be required to inform the woman that if she changes her mind after taking the first of two drugs, she may be able to save her baby. HB 171 passed in House by a vote of 67-33 and in the Senate, 31-19.
In addition, there will be a referendum on the Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. If passed by the voters, it would “require health care providers to take ‘all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life and health’ of any child born as the result of natural, induced or cesarean labor or an abortion,” Michels reported.