A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION; ALLOWING A PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEE TO REFUSE TO TEACH OR PARTICIPATE IN A CURRICULUM CONTRARY TO THE EMPLOYEE'S CONSCIENCE; and PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Public education right of conscience. (1) An employee at a public elementary or secondary school in the state may not be required to teach or participate in a curriculum or parts of a curriculum that is contrary to the employee's conscience. Nothing in this section gives the employee a right to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, marital status, age, creed, religion, physical or mental disability, or national origin.
(2) A refusal to teach or participate in a curriculum may not be used as grounds to harass, demote, or dismiss an employee who refuses to teach or participate as a right of conscience.
(3) A school district official who harasses, demotes, or dismisses an employee in violation of subsection (2) is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined an amount not to exceed $500.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "conscience" means a sincerely held set of moral convictions arising from:
(a) a belief in and relation to God;
(b) a religious faith or spiritual practice; or
(c) a moral philosophy or ethical position, without regard to whether the philosophy or position is related to a religious faith.
NEW SECTION. Section 2. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 20, chapter 4, and the provisions of Title 20, chapter 4, apply to [section 1].
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.