40-1-203. Proof of age and medical certificate -- waiver of medical certificate requirement. - Montana Statutes

     40-1-203. Proof of age and medical certificate -- waiver of medical certificate requirement. (1) Before a person authorized by law to issue marriage licenses may issue a marriage license, each applicant for a license shall provide a birth certificate or other satisfactory evidence of age and, if the applicant is a minor, the approval required by 40-1-213. Each female applicant, unless exempted on medical grounds by rule of the department of public health and human services or as provided in subsection (2), shall file with the license issuer a medical certificate from a physician who is licensed to practice medicine and surgery in any state or United States territory or from any other person authorized by rule of the department to issue a medical certificate. The certificate must state that the applicant has been given a blood test for rubella immunity, that the report of the test results has been shown to the applicant tested, and that the other party to the proposed marriage contract has examined the report.
     (2) In lieu of a medical certificate, applicants for a marriage license may file an informed consent form acknowledging receipt and understanding of written rubella immunity information and declining rubella immunity testing. Filing of an informed consent form will effect a waiver of the requirement for a blood test for rubella immunity. Informed consent must be recorded on a form provided by the department and must be signed by both applicants. The informed consent form must include:
     (a) the reasons for undergoing a blood test for rubella immunity;
     (b) the information that the results would provide about the woman's rubella antibody status;
     (c) the risks associated with remaining uninformed of the rubella antibody status, including the potential risks posed to a fetus, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy; and
     (d) contact information indicating where applicants may obtain additional information regarding rubella and rubella immunity testing.
     (3) A person who by law is able to obtain a marriage license in this state is also able to give consent to any examinations, tests, or waivers required or allowed by this section. In submitting the blood specimen to the laboratory, the physician or other person authorized to issue a medical certificate shall designate that it is a premarital test.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 208, L. 1947; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 21, L. 1959; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 248, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 33, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 48-134; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 33, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 228, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 154, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 186, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 73, Ch. 418, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 113, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 294, L. 2007.