Montana Republican Party opposes nearly all abortions

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Republican Party platform opposes nearly all abortions, after a vote of those attending the party’s platform convention over the weekend.

Party members on Saturday approved a platform that opposes all elective abortions. They rejected a proposal to allow exceptions for rape or incest, Montana Public Radio reported.

“What makes this language even harder for me is in the case of rape and incest, because I do not believe that the baby should be responsible for the sins of another person,” Rep. Jedediah Hinkle of Belgrade said during the meeting in Billings.

The platform does allow abortion care in cases of miscarriage or threats to the life of the mother, Republican lawmakers told the Montana State News Bureau, although the allowable circumstances are not completely clear.

Party spokesperson Alden Tonkay did not return an email seeking comment on Tuesday. No one answered the phone at the Montana Republican Party headquarters in Helena.

The Montana Republican Party is moving further away from common sense, said Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party.

“Make no mistake, the MTGOP cares more about controlling our bodies than they do about saving lives. If they succeed in enacting their platform, Montana women will die,” she said

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1972 Roe v Wade decision, ending federal constitutional protections for women’s rights to abortions and sending the issue to states to decide.

In Montana, access to abortion care is protected by the privacy right guaranteed in the state Constitution, according to a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling.

Republican lawmakers passed several bills regulating abortions during the 2021 legislative session. Three of the new laws are temporarily blocked by an injunction that the state has asked the Montana Supreme Court to vacate.

The attorney general in January also asked the Montana Supreme Court to overturn the 1999 ruling.

The GOP, at its platform convention, also supported counting election ballots either by hand or by machines that are not connected to the internet so the results can’t be tampered with. The Secretary of State’s Office has said repeatedly that Montana’s tabulating machines cannot be connected to the internet.

Rep. David Bedey of Hamilton was booed when he argued that Montana elections are secure.

Convention goers also created a system where state Republican lawmakers will be graded based on how they vote on legislative proposals that are identified as “party bills.”

Jeff Essman, chairman of the Standing Rules Committee for the party, said the resolution epitomizes the debate Republican lawmakers face — whether they represent the party or the voters in their districts.