Sponsored by Republican Sen. Al Olszewski, the bill passed through the Senate and House in April. The legislation would have required medical professionals to provide "appropriate lifesaving or life-sustaining medical care" to any baby who survives an abortion attempt.
Under the bill, doctors would have been required to administer medical care to a baby, provided there was evidence of life - breathing, heart beat, definite movement, or umbilical cord pulsation. Medical professionals who failed to comply could have faced up to a $50,000 fine and 20 years in prison.
Critics of the bill argue that it would block late-term abortions, as doctors would be obligated to save a viable fetus. According to the Associated Press, Bullock stated that the bill would interfere with "deeply personal medical decisions."
"If this bill were enacted, a woman could be subjected to forced caesarian section or inducement of labor if continuing her pregnancy after viability threatened her life – in violation of established legal precedent," the governor said.
During a Senate Judiciary committee hearing in March, Olszewski stressed the important role this bill has in opposing infanticide, according to the Billings Gazette.
"There is a national debate attempting to legitimize the intentional killing of a baby born alive if the medical provider and the parents deem or decide that it is necessary or should happen," he said.