Helena, MT - Today, the Montana Supreme Court issued an unanimous decision affirming a lower court's injunction against a law that prohibits physicians from utilizing physician assistants to perform abortions. As a result, physician assistant Susan Cahill will continue to provide abortion services under the supervision of James Armstrong, M.D., as she has safely done for the past twenty years.

In a sweeping opinion, the Court held that the law infringed on the explicit right of individual privacy guaranteed by the Montana Constitution: "[w]hen, as in the case at bar, the legislature thrusts itself into this protected zone of individual privacy under the guise of protecting the patient's health, but, in reality, does so because of prevailing political ideology and the unrelenting pressure from individuals and organizations promoting their own beliefs and values, then the state's infringement of personal autonomy is not only constitutionally impermissible, it is, as well, intellectually and morally indefensible."

"The Supreme Court's decision is a ringing endorsement of Montana's individual right to privacy, and confirms that the Montana Constitution protects the right to choose abortion." said Simon Heller, Director of Litigation for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a public interest legal organization based in New York.

Drafted by anti-choice legislators, Montana's ban was intended to impair the ability of the lead plaintiff, James Armstrong, M.D., to provide abortion services by stopping him from utilizing his physician assistant, Susan Cahill, from performing the procedure. Cahill has provided early abortion services under the supervision of Dr. Armstrong for twenty years, with the approval of the Montana Board of Medical Examiners. Given the already critical shortage of abortion services nationwide - they are located in only 16 percent of all counties - the use of physician assistants increases access to already inaccessible medical services.

Armstrong and Cahill have been the target of extreme anti-choice aggression since 1992, including an arson attack that severely damaged their offices. Schemes hatched by anti-choice activists to have Armstrong and Cahill criminally prosecuted under various statutes have been thwarted by the courts. Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey M. Sherlock issued a preliminary injunction against the law in November, 1997.

Plaintiffs in Amstrong v. Montana are James Armstrong, M.D., Susan Cahill, P.A., Barbara Polstein, D.O., Mindy Opper, P.A., and the Blue Mountain Clinic. They are represented by Center for Reproductive Rights attorneys Janet Benshoof and Simon Heller, and cooperating attorney Bruce Measure of Kalispell.