Voters in Montana Can Protect Infants Born Alive After an Attempted Abortion

Montana Voters have infant lives on the ballot in the upcoming midterm election, November 8.

Montana LR-131, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, adds a new statute to the laws of Montana requiring medical care for infants born alive after botched abortions. The measure:

States that infants born alive at any stage of development are legal persons.
Requires medical care to be provided to infants born alive after an induced labor, cesarean section, attempted abortion, or another method.
Establishes a $50,000 fine and/or 20 years in prison as the maximum penalty for violating the law.

The legislative referendum was placed on the ballot after the legislature approved the measure in 2021. The Montana House voted 68 to 32 in favor and the Senate approved the ballot initiative with a vote of 30 to 20.

Many pro-life groups support the measure, including Focus on the Family, Americans United for Life, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Montana Family Foundation and Pro-Life Helena.

Montana Family Foundation is a Focus on the Family allied Family Policy Council. Its President, Jeff Laszloffy, said of LR 131:

The ballot measure was passed by the legislature after a recent wave of states passing laws allowing infanticide, the killing of an infant after it’s born. This happens most often after a botched abortion, when the fetus is delivered alive and left to die, exposed and alone.

The Montana legislature heard testimony that this has happened in Montana, and the Abortion Survivors Network, an organization with over 10,000 members, stands as proof that abortions do fail, and fetuses are, in fact, born alive.

He said the bill simply requires infants born alive be treated as human and given appropriate medical care. For infants with no chance to live, this could be as simple as hospice care and comfort.

Then he added:

It sounds completely reasonable to a rational person, but this is an election year, and this issue is a political hot potato.

In addition to the referendum being opposed by all the usual suspects, like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, we’re now witnessing an onslaught of opposition from groups like the Montana Medical Association and the Montana Nurses Association.

That may seem surprising to some, but both of these groups stood side-by-side with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU and opposed pro-life bills in the last legislative session.

In fact, pro-life doctors who witnessed the medical association’s testimony, immediately quit the organization, saying it no longer represented their values.

Laszloffy added that the opposition is running dishonest, frightening ads in the state, showing dying infants ripped from their parents’ arms to receive unsuccessful, unnecessary treatment. He said, “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

He explained, “This measure is currently law in 36 states and at the federal level,” and said that the law “will stop abortion providers allowing survivors of abortion to die – slowly and alone.”

Laszloffy urged Montanans to vote “Yes” on LR-131, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.”