2021 Montana Legislature

Additional Bill Links       PDF version

house bill NO. 229

INTRODUCED BY J. Gillette

By Request of the ****

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT PROHIBITING QUALIFIED HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS OFFERED THROUGH A HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE IN MONTANA FROM COVERING ABORTION SERVICES."

 

WHEREAS, under Public Law 111-148, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, federal tax dollars are routed to exchange-participating health insurance plans through affordability credits provided to individuals with incomes of up to 400% of the federal poverty level to assist the individuals with purchasing health insurance coverage, including health insurance plans that provide coverage for abortions; and

WHEREAS, federal funding of insurance plans that provide coverage for abortions is an unprecedented change in federal abortion funding policy that fails to take into account the Hyde Amendment that prohibits federal funds from subsidizing health insurance plans that provide coverage of abortions; and

WHEREAS, the provision of federal funding for health insurance plans that provide abortion coverage is nothing short of taxpayer-funded and government-endorsed abortion; and

WHEREAS, Public Law 111-148 allows a state to opt out of permitting health insurance plans that cover abortions from participating in the health insurance exchanges within that state and thus prohibit taxpayer money from subsidizing plans that cover abortions within that state; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court has, in past decisions, concluded that the decision not to fund abortion services places no governmental obstacle in the path of a woman who chooses to terminate her pregnancy and that a state may engage in unequal subsidization of abortion and other medical services to encourage alternative activity considered to be in the public interest; and

WHEREAS, a January 2010 Quinnipiac University poll showed that 7 in 10 Americans were opposed to provisions in federal health care reform that use federal funds to pay for abortions and abortion coverage.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

 

Section 1.Prohibition on coverage of abortion services in qualified health plans. (1) A qualified health plan, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 18021, may not be offered or otherwise made available through a health insurance exchange established in the state pursuant to Public Law 111-148, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, if the plan provides coverage for abortion as defined in 50-20-104.

(2) The prohibition in this section does not apply to a plan that provides coverage for an abortion performed when:

(a) the life of the mother is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself; or

(b) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.

 

Section 2.Construction. (1) The provisions of [section 1] may not be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion.

(2) It is not the intent of [section 1] to make lawful an abortion that is currently unlawful.

 

Section 3.Codification instruction. [Sections 1 and 2] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 33, chapter 22, and the provisions of Title 33, chapter 22, apply to [sections 1 and 2].

 


Latest Version of HB 229 (HB0229.003)
Processed for the Web on April 26, 2021 (10:38AM)

New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.

Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted.

See the status of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.

  Status of this Bill | 2021 Legislature | Leg. Branch Home
All versions of this bill (PDFformat)
Authorized print version of this bill (PDFformat)
[
NEW SEARCH ]

Prepared by Montana Legislative Services
(406) 444-3064