Montana bans local governments from targeting pro-life pregnancy centers

May 9, 2025

Montana has enacted a law that prohibits local governments from targeting pro-life pregnancy centers by requiring them to “offer or perform abortions” or promote abortion-inducing drugs and contraception.

The Christian Post reports that Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 388 into law on Thursday after the measure had passed the Montana House 57-41 and the Montana Senate 31-19.

Under the new law, local governments will also be prohibited from forbidding pro-life pregnancy centers from offering abortion pill reversals and other services because of their opposition to abortion.

The measure also prohibits local governments from requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to “interview, hire, or continue to employ a person who does not affirm the center’s mission statement or agree to comply with the center’s pro-life ethic and operating procedures.”

As examples of the “free, confidential and compassionate services” provided by pro-life pregnancy centers, HB 388 lists “pregnancy tests, peer counseling, 24-hour telephone hotlines, childbirth and parenting classes, referrals to community health care, [and] adoption referrals.”

The new law comes as pregnancy centers across the nation have experienced what the bill describes as “unprecedented attacks” in the years following the United States Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization.

According to the Christian Post, the partisan divide on pro-life pregnancy centers was reflected in the votes on HB 388.

All support for the measure came from Republicans, while nearly all opposition came from Democrats. One Senate Republican broke from his party to join Democrats in opposing the legislation.  

Photo: top, Credit: Getty Images