The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected to hear a case trying to revive a Montana law that required permission from the parent for minors seeking abortions.

The state argued that the law should be allowed to come into effect, because ‘fundamental parental rights’ weighs more than a right to privacy that has long protected abortion in the deep red state.

The parent’s consent Act was first approved in 2013, but was subject to years of litigation and never came into effect. The Supreme Court of Treasure State pitched it last year and ruled that “the right of a minor to control her reproductive decisions is one of the most fundamental of the rights she owns.”

Montana officials said in their petition that parents have the right to be notified of and participate in their children’s medical decisions, including abortion. They argued that the ruling of the state Supreme Court had “watered down” the right, which was recognized under the 14th amendment of the US Constitution.

Conservative judges Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wrote that the denial is based on technical aspects, rather than the merits of the parental rights argument.

The case “offers a poor vehicle to decide the question. It is therefore especially important that the refusal of review is not read by interested parties or other courts as a rejection of the argument that the petition asks us to decide,” the judges wrote.

While Montana is considered a very red state – one that President Trump won by 58 percent of the votes last November, abortion is currently protected to the point of fetal viability due to a decision by the Supreme Court in 1999.

In 2024, voters also approved a ballot initiative that made the government illegal to regulate or limit abortion before viability, which is about 24 weeks.