Montana Supreme Court Affirms Block on Abortion Clinic Restrictions
Independent abortion providers in Whitefish and Missoula challenged the new restrictions in a 2024 lawsuit, securing a preliminary injunction that the high court upheld on appeal from the state health department
By Maggie Dresser
The Montana Supreme Court on March 31 ruled to keep abortion clinic restrictions blocked after the state appealed a lower court’s decision, allowing facilities to continue providing procedures without a state license following a new law that was passed in the 2023 Legislature.
In September 2024, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) issued the new rules as part of House Bill 937, requiring abortion clinics to be licensed under the state. Opponents of the bill, including a local practitioner, said the 2023 law and the new rules would combine to create a chilling effect on some facilities, forcing them to close.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Blue Mountain Clinic, All Families Healthcare and Whitefish nurse practitioner and abortion provider Helen Weems, were granted a preliminary injunction in 2024. The state appealed the ruling last year and the high court upheld it this week.
“Today’s ruling makes me hopeful for Montana, our clinic, and my patients in the Flathead Valley and beyond,” Weems said in a press release. “We are the only abortion provider in Northwest Montana, and we are surrounded by states that ban abortion. I would have been forced to close All Families Healthcare if these restrictions took effect, leaving my patients to travel hundreds of miles or forgo care altogether. Our state lawmakers clearly don’t care about Montanans’ health, or they wouldn’t pass law after law driving healthcare providers like me to spend our time in court instead of the exam room with our patients. But I vow to keep fighting to protect access to this safe, essential healthcare for all Montanans.”
The Montana Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 split vote — with justices Jim Rice and Cory Swanson dissenting — that HB 937 likely violated the state’s constitutional right to equal protection and that a preliminary injunction is in the public interest as the case proceeds to trial.
Justice Rice in his dissent wrote the rules in HB 937 do not implicate the right to privacy and it does not violate equal protection since the legislation does not address miscarriage care.
Justice James Shea in his opinion concurring with the majority wrote: “If there is something this Court has been absolutist about over the decades, it is the appropriate protection of our citizens’ constitutional right to privacy and to make decisions that are inherently private without government interference, regardless of our personal feelings or reservations about those decisions. That is a badge of honor I will proudly wear.”
The legal saga began following the 2023 Montana Legislature when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB 937 — legislation that mandates licensure and inspection of abortion clinics by DPHHS and requires the agency adopt administrative rules for operation of abortion clinics, which would include things like governing staff qualifications and sanitation standards.
All Families Healthcare and Blue Mountain Clinic abortion providers in September 2023 filed a lawsuit against DPHHS, arguing the law violates Montanans’ constitutionally protected right under the 1972 state constitution, as ruled in the 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling, Armstrong v. State.
A district court judge in Helena granted a temporary restraining order later that month while a separate ruling in November 2024 granted a preliminary injunction. By treating abortion providers differently than healthcare professionals who prescribe the same medication and perform the same procedures during miscarriages, the judge concluded patients’ right to equal protection was violated.
In January 2025, DPHHS appealed the lower court’s November 2024 ruling, arguing the district court abused it discretion.
HB 937 was one of five abortion restriction bills signed by Gov. Gianforte following the 2023 Legislature, which also included laws requiring a pregnant individual to receive an ultrasound before an abortion along with the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.
Also passed in 2023, Senate Bill 154 clarified that the right to privacy in the Montana Constitution does not include abortion. However, Montana voters in November 2024 approved a ballot proposal to enshrine an explicit right to abortion in the state constitution.