Valentine’s Day hearings were held for new Montana abortion legislation (HB 471), making abortion a religious right. If passed, Montana’s legislation would begin the process of setting a U.S. legal precedent, protecting abortion on religious liberty grounds. The bill states in part: “At any time during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, a pregnant woman has the right to obtain an abortion from a willing health care provider, even when the abortion is prohibited by this chapter or otherwise prohibited under the laws of this state, if the woman seeks the abortion in accordance with the woman’s sincerely held religious tenets.”
This is another instance of a larger strategy to conflate religion—Christianity in particular—with abortion.
Q&A:
- What is HB 471 and how could it impact the legality of abortion in Montana?
Answer: Montana’s new abortion legislation (HB 471) would make abortion a religious right. If passed, Montana’s legislation would begin the process of setting a U.S. legal precedent, protecting abortion on religious liberty grounds.
- This legal action is part of a larger theme of making abortion a religious issue. Can you speak to this?
Answer: This is another instance of a larger strategy to conflate religion—Christianity in particular—with abortion. The bill couches abortion as a religious liberty decision, creating a false dichotomy. It pits the one imagined religious liberty (abortion) against the other actual religious liberty, behavior of medical objectors.
- Why are the Biden Administration and others interested in “Christianizing” abortion?
Answer: This latest move is consistent with the new religious liberty tactic the Biden Administration and other pro-abortion politicians have been taking since the run-up to the mid-terms. Essentially, they have been trying to build a case to Christianize abortion, thereby criminalizing public pro-life activity. If they can make abortion an expression of religious liberty then pro-life expressions could be deemed to interfere with abortion, a conspiracy to deprive a woman of a civil liberty.
- And if this is successful, what would be the effects to pro-life people like Mark Houck or doctors who do not provide or refer for abortion?
Answer: If this or other laws like it are permitted, it could cascade, essentially piercing the veil of 1st Amendment protections for public pro-life activity, including that of medical professionals, if that activity is deemed to interfere with a woman’s religious conviction to get an abortion.
- How does the government define a religious belief? How do we know if and when a position is legally protected?
Answer: SCOTUS has historically refrained from getting involved in defining what is an appropriate religious belief. But there is some precedent for differentiating between a legitimate religious belief and a mere philosophical or emotional opinion. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) established a legal precedent in supporting religious liberty defining religion as that which “typically concerns ‘ultimate ideas’ about ‘life, purpose and death,’” excluding “social, political, or economic philosophies, as well as mere personal preferences.”
- Different people come to different conclusions on religious topics. How should that be taken into consideration?
Answer: The insidious nature of Montana’s bill is that it seems to anticipate religious objections along the lines the EEOC established when it comes to abortion stating in the beginning: ‘different religions have had and currently have divergent and deeply held theologies, religious beliefs, and values on profoundly religious questions regarding when human life begins, bodily autonomy, and when abortion is allowable….’ Just because a pro-abortion person claims to be a Christian or Jew does not make Christianity or Judaism pro-abortion. It just makes that person a religious hypocrite.
Rev. Jim Harden, CompassCare CEO:
Rev. James R. Harden, M.Div. is the CEO of CompassCare Pregnancy Services and lives outside of Rochester, NY with his wife and ten children. Rev. Harden pioneered the first measurable and repeatable medical model in the pregnancy center movement, helping hundreds of centers nationwide become more effective at reaching more women and saving more babies from abortion. He has written extensively on medical ethics, executive leadership, and pro-life strategy. Recently CompassCare’s pro-life medical office in Buffalo, NY was firebombed.
Daniel Tomlinson, CompassCare Director of Community Relations:
Daniel Tomlinson is the Director of Community Relations at CompassCare, a Pregnancy Center based in Buffalo, New York. CompassCare’s pro-life medical office in Buffalo that was firebombed on June 7th and reopened a miraculous 52 days later. Having served at CompassCare for 12 years, Daniel is passionate about resourcing the mission of CompassCare and educating the community on the equal value of every person. He and his wife have four children and live outside of Rochester, NY.
CONTACT: Jerry McGlothlin at: geraldmcg@outlook.com or 919-437-0001.
