The Montana Missoulian is reporting that a Helena district court judge earlier this month declared unconstitutional that state’s ban on prescription birth control coverage for teenage girls enrolled in the Healthy Montana Kids program, that state’s version of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (HUSKY B in Connecticut). The state constitutional grounds included a teen’s right to privacy and the rights of “persons not adults.”
The court found that the state had failed to (1) provide a compelling reason for excluding birth control from coverage and (2) show how excluding it from coverage enhanced the rights of minors, both of which would be required in order to overcome the constitutional challenge. The court instead pointed to the state’s desire to reduce teenage pregnancy as a compelling state interest to support continuing the coverage. And it found that a teenager’s right to privately determine whether to become pregnant was fundamental.
The state has 60 days to determine whether to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.
