May 2, 2022

Montana Fights Eight Year Old Injunction Blocking Parental Notice

Update: District Judge Chris Abbott responded to Montana's motion by promising that the case will be resolved soon. The next hearing will be in June.

He refused to lift the 8.5-year-old temporary injunction; arguing that this would make the process take even longer.

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Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed a motion in state district court demanding the court to immediately drop a 2013 preliminary injunction blocking the state's Parental Notice of Abortion Act. Knudsen argues that the lack of progress in this case after eight years is unacceptable, and the law should be enforced if the court hasn't issued a ruling.

“It’s been 3,181 days since the consent injunction was entered.” Montana's motion reads. “That’s eight years, eight-and-a-half months, or 104.5 months, or 34.8 trimesters since the State agreed to a preliminary injunction because it was confident the case would be decided quickly.”

Knudsen continued in an affidavit: “The state simply cannot consent to an order which, through inaction, results in denying Montanans the protections of duly enacted statutes and leaves the legal status of a popular referendum in doubt … The history of this case demonstrates an ongoing injustice against the people of Montana.”

70% of Montana voters approved the Parental Notice of Abortion Act on the November 6, 2012 ballot. Lawmakers subsequently passed that legislation in 2013, but Planned Parenthood filed suit.