Sine Die! We've reached the finish line of Montana's 69th Legislature
What a relief it is!
Sine die, “without a day”, was called yesterday, signaling the end of the 69th legislative session. It ended with as much controversy as it started, with the budget bill being passed to the consternation of most conservatives, passing easily with the help of every Democrat in a majority Republican legislature. It was quite fitting, as the entire session was marked with controversy, split loyalties, and frustration. It was my first session lobbying for the MT Medical Freedom Alliance and those emotions were palpable, even to a newcomer.
I will give a more thorough summary of the session as I get my thoughts gathered, but for now I want to give a brief wrap-up of where our last priority bills ended up.
Our biggest win this session was the passage of HB 682, “An act to generally revise laws related to gender transition treatment.” It should be headed to the governor’s desk, where we fully expect his signature. This was anything but an easy bill to pass. The hearings were full, on both sides, with emotional testimonies of people who have been both helped (for now) and harmed by gender transition. There is an active, powerful LBTQ lobby in Montana, and they showed up in full force for every hearing.
HB 682 was amended to a lesser statute of limitations, but it is still strong. It will allow a minor harmed by gender treatment up age 27 to file a medical malpractice claim or within 2 years from the time of discovery, up until age 30. It also requires insurance to cover whatever can be reversed (sadly, much cannot).
The successful passage of this bill was a collaboration of a willing sponsor, Rep Greg Kmetz (R) who needed no arm twisting to take on this cultural landmine of a bill; the Montana Family Foundation- Derek Oestreicher, chief legal counsel, for his legal mind and working behind the scenes and Patrick Webb, with his expertise in networking and communication; the Do No Harm national organization - Scott Centorino (who has since gone to the Trump administration), Dr Ivan Abdouch and Dr Roy Eappen; private Montana physicians and others from around the country; and the LGB Courage Coalition- Jamie Reed, national whistleblower, Elle Palmer, who transitioned as a teen in MT and fearlessly told legislators that this was happening in our state and many other detransitioners who are now traveling the country with their personal stories of harm and betrayal by the medical community.
I met so many great people while working HB 682 and hope to keep these alliances strong. Just like with SB 535 where I allied with legislators and groups that I hadn’t expected to partner with, getting 682 passed took a huge effort from so many different organizations - it makes me want to say, “It takes a village!” but I’m not a huge Hillary fan so I’ll just let that thought trail off…
I do want to reiterate how grateful I am to the aforementioned people working on getting the bill passed. We all needed to come together to get it done. THANK YOU!
And now to the bad news. Unfortunately, SB 535, “An act revising laws related to experimental treatments” was passed with multiple amendments, and also headed to the Governor’s desk. This bill has gone from quietly getting through it’s first committee hearing with only one soft opponent, to an explosion of medical freedom groups sounding the alarm. I’m not going to go into the details of the bill, as I have written other posts on the bill ad nauseam (see my prior Substacks), but as we continue to research the implications of the experimental treatment centers we are getting more alarmed by the possible implications.
We are asking for MT citizens to contact Governor Gianforte and ask that he veto this bill.
Here is what I wrote to the Governor. I focused solely on our opposition to the use of embryonic stem cells in longevity medicine, but there are many other safety and regulatory concerns. Reach out in the comments if you’d like to hear others-or read my previous Substacks.
Dear Governor Gianforte,
Thank you for taking time to consider my group's opposition to SB 535, Revising Laws Related to Experimental Treatments. We are a 501c3 organization of healthcare professionals in Montana and our goal is to bring conservative values and integrity back to medicine.
We believe that all life is sacred, from the embryo to the end of natural life, and each is God's inherent design. I spent the 69th legislative session lobbying on such bills. We are most definitely for medical freedom, bodily autonomy and the "right to try" premise. The loss of those freedoms during the Covid years is what prompted the formation of this organization, along with the assault of our youth with the gender ideology craze.
As I listened to the Senate and House hearings on SB 535, as well as last session's SB 422, I realized that this bill opens the door to much more than treating chronic or terminal conditions. The proponents, all venture capitalists and bio tech executives associated with the Alliance for Longevity Initiative (A4LI.org), spoke repeatedly about focusing on "longevity" medicine and age-related diseases. We have many concerns with the bill, but the most urgent concern is the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) in research or therapeutics associated with that focus of experimentation.
SB 535 received no public participation during the first committee hearing, as no medical freedom group in the state was aware of it. There were no Montana physicians, scientists or citizens present as proponents for either hearing. The only opponent was the MMA. At the second House hearing, there were multiple opponents to the bill, all with different concerns. When the bill went to the House floor, it was narrowly concurred, with six amendments, surviving only due to a reconsideration of 3rd reading. As the public and legislators became more aware of the bill and its implications, the vote became more narrow, and with a bipartisan ratio. From speaking to the legislators, the use of fetal embryonic cells was the factor that caused them pause.
One of the sponsors of A4LI is Buck Institute. Please note this press release from Buck Institute from Sept, 2007. Taken from the article, "Experts in human embryonic stem cells will be designing experiments with cancer and age researchers to understand how stem cells age and determine how tumor suppressor genes function as the cells develop."
Mr. Livingston, of A4LI testified that researchers have not used hESC for 30 years. This is false. Research continues using hESC, though other sources for stem cells have been developed over the past decade or so. These include mesenchymal stem cells, often obtained from cord blood; neuronal stem cells, obtained from “post-natal, post-mortem human brains” according to one website that procures such tissue:(https://nhnscr.org/); and, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), in which stem cells (embryonic, neonatal, or adult fibroblasts) are genetically manipulated to create pluripotent stem cells.
(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3254878/#B5) The NIH has rules and regulations about use of hESC, if a study is federally funded.
Here is the FAQs website:
Here are a couple informational publications about the use of hESC to treat human disease (one published in 2023, and the other in 2024):
In conclusion, although we applaud the desire for medical innovation and access in Montana, it cannot come at the expense of destroying life to extend another's. There is a sacredness to all life and God's design and plan for each life created. We urge a VETO of SB 535, as we do not want this type of experimental treatments done in Montana.
Sincerely,
Erin Laws
Thank you for making just one more call.
May God Bless Montana~
Congratulations on HB682!