To: Montana Senate Judiciary Committee

From: Matthew Brower, Executive Director of the Montana Catholic Conference

Re: Testimony in support of HB 229

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Matt Brower and I currently serve as the Executive Director of the Montana Catholic Conference. I speak on behalf of the two Roman Catholic bishops of Montana. I am here today to voice our support for House Bill 229. The Montana Catholic Conference is strongly opposed to the inclusion of abortion coverage in insurance plans, particularly those that are government-funded or subsidized because it forces taxpayers to contribute to ending the lives of unborn children.

This bill helps protect the conscience of individuals who do not wish to contribute to funding abortion and this is no small number of Americans. For example, a Marist Poll released just this past January showed that nearly six in ten Americans oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortion. We believe that House Bill 229 is a great step toward reducing taxpayer subsidizing of abortion coverage.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on behalf of the Montana Catholic Conference, I urge a “do concur” and thank you for your time.