{"data":{"id":"us-mt/50-20-502","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"50-20-502","heading":"Legislative purpose and findings.","body":"(1) The legislature finds that:\n(a) immature minors often lack the ability to make fully informed choices that take into account both immediate and long-range consequences;\n(b) the medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion are sometimes serious and can be lasting, particularly when the patient is immature;\n(c) the capacity to become pregnant and the capacity for mature judgment concerning the wisdom of an abortion are not necessarily related;\n(d) parents ordinarily possess information essential to a physician in the exercise of the physician's best medical judgment concerning the minor;\n(e) parents who are aware that their minor daughter has had an abortion may better ensure that the daughter receives adequate medical care after the abortion; and\n(f) parental consultation is usually desirable and in the best interests of the minor.\n(2) The purpose of this part is to further the important and compelling state interests of:\n(a) protecting minors against their own immaturity;\n(b) fostering family unity and preserving the family as a viable social unit;\n(c) protecting the constitutional rights of parents to rear children who are members of their household; and\n(d) reducing teenage pregnancy and unnecessary abortion.","path":["TITLE 50. HEALTH AND SAFETY","CHAPTER 20. ABORTION","Part 5. Parental Consent for Abortion Act"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0500/chapter_0200/part_0050/section_0020/0500-0200-0050-0020.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:56:20Z","sha256":"e2411ff37e8461c4f573c14d349a4fe899a7b109f5b2244fc4dcc49eb2f39a3e","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/50-20-501","next":"us-mt/50-20-503"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}