50-20-202. Legislative purpose and findings. - Montana Statutes

     50-20-202. Legislative purpose and findings. (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) immature minors often lack the ability to make fully informed choices that take into account both immediate and long-range consequences;
     (b) the medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion are sometimes serious and can be lasting, particularly when the patient is immature;
     (c) the capacity to become pregnant and the capacity for mature judgment concerning the wisdom of an abortion are not necessarily related;
     (d) parents ordinarily possess information essential to a physician in the exercise of the physician's best medical judgment concerning the minor;
     (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
     (f) parental consultation is usually desirable and in the best interests of the minor.
     (2) The purpose of this part is to further the important and compelling state interests of:
     (a) protecting minors against their own immaturity;
     (b) fostering family unity and preserving the family as a viable social unit;
     (c) protecting the constitutional rights of parents to rear children who are members of their household; and
     (d) reducing teenage pregnancy and unnecessary abortion.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 469, L. 1995.