State of Montana Newsroom
Governor Gianforte Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Parental Rights
Files brief in support of parental rights in the medical care of minor children
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of laws protecting the right of parents to know when their young daughters are seeking an abortion.
In August, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the Parental Consent for Abortion Act of 2013, which required parents to consent to and be notified when their young daughters sought an abortion.
In his brief, the governor asks the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision from the Montana Supreme Court, writing, “That parents should be afforded this right to direct the care and control of their children.”
And continues, saying, “if the Court recognizes the rights of parents over the formal education of their children, then surely those rights extend even more so to parents’ rights to know and be involved in the medical decisions of their children.”
The governor also emphasized how the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling is an example of judicial activism.
By overturning a law passed by the Montana State Legislature and diminishing the rights of Montana parents established under the U.S. Constitution, Gov. Gianforte describes the Court saying, “With this decision, the activism of the Montana Supreme Court has now arrived at the Court’s doorstep, undermining the supremacy of the federal constitution and thereby the rule of law.”
The governor concludes, “This Court has the opportunity through appellate review to correct the judicial activism of court below and demonstrate to the nation through example and well as law the appropriate application of the federal constitution to the important issue of parental involvement in the medical decision making of their minor children.”
The governor’s full amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court may be viewed here .
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