HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed a petition today asking the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to reverse a Montana Supreme Court decision that denies parents their right to consent to an abortion for their minor children, putting the health and safety of children seeking an abortion at further risk.

In the petition asking SCOTUS to hear Montana v. Planned Parenthood of Montana, Attorney General Knudsen notes that parents have a fundamental right to direct the care and custody of their minor children, and that right should outweigh a child’s right to privacy. However, until SCOTUS weighs in, parents will be left guessing as to the scope of their fundamental rights concerning their children’s medical care as courts across the country remain split in their decisions and many, including the Montana Supreme Court, contradict SCOTUS’s own precedent regarding parental rights.

“SCOTUS should hear the case and reverse the radical Montana Supreme Court’s bad decision allowing minors to receive abortions without parental consent. A child’s right to privacy does not supersede a parent’s fundamental right to direct the care and upbringing of their child,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “Until we get clarity from the Supreme Court, the health and safety of young Montanans seeking abortions is at risk.”

In 2013, the legislature passed – and former Governor Steve Bullock allowed to go into effect – House Bill 391 in 2013, which required parental consent for a minor to undergo an abortion. Planned Parenthood sued and the case was dormant for nearly ten years until Attorney General Knudsen resurrected the case to protect parental rights and the health and safety of children seeking an abortion.

Montana courts subsequently erred in their rulings on the case deciding that a child’s right to receive an abortion, and therefore their right to privacy, is more important than a parent’s fundamental right to direct the care and custody of their child. However, Montanans have long attempted to safeguard and have overwhelmingly supported parents’ right to know about and participate in their child’s decision to seek an abortion.

For example, House Bill 391 followed the Parental Notification of Abortion Act which was approved by more than 70 percent of voters via LR-120 in 2012, makes it illegal to coerce a minor into having an abortion and requires that a medical professional performing an abortion for a pregnant minor must notify at least one parent or legal guardian of the pregnant minor at least 48 hours in advance.

“This confusion on the scope of parental rights and abortion providers’ legal duties to parents will continue to grow until this court intervenes. And state experimentation with the scope of a minor’s state constitutional right to seek an abortion threatens to erode parents’ federal fundamental rights,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote.  “This Court’s review and guidance is sorely needed.”

Click here to read the petition.