A town councilman in Southwest Montana is looking into limiting abortion access at the city level.
A move to make Manhattan a “sanctuary for the unborn” seeks to criminalize receiving abortion pills by mail.
The eight-page draft ordinance says that a person may sue someone who receives an abortion pill by mail up to six years after it happens. It says the accuser could receive at least $100,000 in statutory damages.
Manhattan Montana Mayor Glen Clements says Councilman Josh Powell requested that the item be put on Thursday night’s agenda for discussion.
“If the council so decides they could direct the town attorney to start producing an actual draft ordinance that would come to the council at the next meeting and then there would be a first and second reading,” Clements said.
YPR reached out to Powell but did not hear back by deadline. Clements says he does not plan on supporting the proposal.
“As it stands I don’t see a need for this ordinance," he said. "The town of Manhattan already has an ordinance requiring that we follow all federal laws and regulations.
"There are not a lot of abortion clinics pounding on our door to open in Manhattan, and I don’t foresee that happening anytime in the future, really."
The Texas-based group Sanctuary Cities for the unborn, which NPR reports has been trying to get cities in New Mexico to adopt similar ordinances, posted on Facebook this week that members are traveling through Montana to “meet with community leaders interested in seeing their cities do their part to help bring forth a Montana free of abortion.”
Current law allows Montanans to receive abortion pills by mail.
The Manhattan Town Council meets Thursday at 7 p.m.
