Governor vetoes abortion, concealed-carry bills
A pair of proposals introduced by Kalispell lawmakers — restricting abortions in Montana and allowing legislators to carry concealed handguns in the Capitol — were among seven bills vetoed by Gov. Steve Bullock on Tuesday.
Since the 65th Legislature adjourned at the end of April, Bullock has taken action on 150 bills sent to his desk, signing 128 and vetoing 22.
House Bill 280, sponsored by Rep. Randy Brodehl, R-Kalispell, sought to allow concealed-carry for legislators on state property. Brodehl said that his proposal, which passed mostly along party lines in April, was intended to deter threats against lawmakers’ lives.
“We’re certainly no more special, no more qualified or deserving than any other Montanan,” Brodehl told a Senate committee during a hearing in March. “However, as a legislator who has received death threats while at the Capitol, and have had my wife at least tacitly threatened due to a bill I carried, I take this very seriously.”
In his veto message, however, Bullock noted that legislation passed in 2011 had addressed lawmaker safety by contracting with the Helena Police Department to provide additional security in the Capitol.
“Further, the definition of state property in HB 280 is broad and includes not just the Montana State Capitol, but also the Montana State Hospital, Lewis and Clark Caverns or Washington Grizzly Stadium,” Bullock’s statement reads. “Allowing special treatment for individuals to carry concealed weapons in these public areas, not because they have the training to respond in an emergency, but because they were elected to public office, is illogical and unreasonable.”
The governor also rejected Senate Bill 282 on Tuesday. It would have effectively outlawed abortions — even if the mother’s life is as risk — once the fetus has a 50 percent likelihood of survival.
Sen. Al Olszewski, R-Kalispell, sponsored the legislation. During his testimony before a House committee in March, he said his proposal ensures a woman can decide to terminate a late-term pregnancy, “but not necessarily the child.”
Bullock called the measure an “attempt to circumvent Roe v. Wade by imposing an arbitrary ‘chance of survival’ standard.” He cited similar legislation in other states that has been overturned by the courts, and added that it would subject women to forced cesarean section or induced labor if continuing a pregnancy after viability threatened the mother’s life.
As of Tuesday, an additional 108 bills passed by both chambers were either awaiting action or in the final stages of enrolling before being sent to the governor’s desk.
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.