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On the Issues: CI-100
Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families - Opposition Coalition
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Two Hundred Activists Rally for Roe! NARAL Pro-Choice Montana, our allies, and nearly 200 activists marked the 35th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade by challenging a constitutional amendment (CI-100) that would jeopardize a woman’s right to make private healthcare decisions in Montana.
As the Constitution Party of Montana begins gathering signatures to put this dangerous amendment on the ballot, opponents of CI-100 unveiled “Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families.” Montanans for Safe and Healthy Families is currently made up of 21 organizations joining forces to defeat this extreme proposal.
Guest speakers included: Representative Teresa Henry, Missoula and Autumn Coleman, grassroots activist and expectant mother, Helena. Dr. Ed Stickney, a retired family practice physician from Billings, was unable to make the drive to Helena, but his remarks were read at the rally.
The End of Medical Privacy for Montana Women? What is C-I 100
On October 31, Rep. Rick Jore, anti-choice crusader and Constitution Party Representative from Ronan, filed a constitutional amendment to declare that “life begins at conception” and redefine person in the Montana Constitution. Jore ran a similar bill in the 2007 Montana Legislature which was defeated by a vote of 45-53 in the House of Representatives.
Encouraged by this vote, Jore intends to take his battle against women to the streets of Montana.
The initiative’s language has been approved by the Attorney General and to qualify for the ballot, the signatures of 44, 651 registered voters must be gathered by June 20, 2008. These signors must also represent 10 percent of the voters in each of 40 legislative districts.
Since Montana’s Constitution contains greater protections for medical privacy and a woman’s right to choose than the U.S. Constitution, anti-choice forces know it is the major roadblock that stands in the way of interfering in our most private decisions. That is why they have initiated the most aggressive attack possible against it.
The intentions of Jore and his supporters are to institute a total ban on abortion in Montana with no exemptions should Roe vs. Wade be overturned. As Roe vs. Wade is still the law of the land, this amendment’s immediate effects would be on all women of reproductive age in Montana.
This amendment ignores the complex medical decision-making process for women with high-risk pregnancies and, if Jore has his way, could make every woman who miscarries the subject of a criminal investigation.
If passed, Jore’s amendment would establish a state constitutional basis to entirely prohibit the use of contraception that prevents pregnancy by inhibiting implantation of a fertilized egg, such as birth control pills, IUDs, and emergency contraception. It would also establish a state constitutional basis to prohibit the use of in vitro fertilization and stem cell research.
We are pulling together a strong coalition of organizations and individuals who will stand up for Montana women and have hundreds of volunteers all across the state ready to organize their communities to ensure Rick Jore’s vision doesn’t become a reality for Montana women and families.
Spotlight on the Constitution Party of Montana
Who is behind this Amendment?
Guest article by Travis McAdam, Montana Human Rights Network
The Constitution Party of Montana likes to wrap itself in God, country, and flag while framing itself as the pillar of conservatism. Its brand of conservatism includes both right-wing Christian fundamentalism and anti-government themes of the militia movement. It seeks to base civil law on ultra-conservative biblical doctrine, while pandering to the militia movement's hatred of established government.
Along with stridently opposing reproductive freedom, the party's platform supports "unorganized militias," which are groups like the Militia of Montana. Similar to groups like the Montana Freemen, the Constitution Party of Montana also declares income taxes unconstitutional. Furthermore, it wants to abolish the 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law to all citizens.
Its "Sanctity of Life" plank states that, from the moment of "fertilization," the egg is a "human being created in God's image." Unlike many conservatives, the party holds that women whose pregnancies result from rape and incest must carry their fetuses to term, because it is "unconscionable to take the life of an innocent child for the crimes of his father." Not surprisingly, party activists are the driving forces behind protests in front of health clinics in Missoula and Great Falls.
The party finally got a candidate (Rick Jore) elected to the Montana Legislature in 2006, and it ran a candidate for Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court who received 86,027 votes. This assured the party it would maintain its ballot access in 2008. The party has relatively active local chapters in the Flathead and Bitterroot Valleys, Yellowstone County and Great Falls. However, even with these developments, it cannot win on its own. It will need help.
In Montana, the party continues to try to redefine what constitutes a "true conservative" and passes itself off as an alternative for disaffected Republicans. To pass its constitutional amendment, the party ultimately needs the support of Montana's larger anti-choice movement. The question becomes, "Will other groups be willing to take on the political baggage that comes from working with the ultra-conservative, right-wing ideologues that make up the Constitution Party of Montana?"
We're going to need supporters like you from every corner of Montana to ensure this campaign to take away women's rights and endanger our health is soundly defeated.
Undertaking a campaign of this size and scope is going to take time, energy, people and financial resources. I hope you invest in our field campaign to defeat this dangerous and extreme ballot initiative with a contribution of $15, $25, $50 or $100 today.
Please help us prepare to battle this unprecedented attack on our most basic rights and freedoms.
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana needs dedicated volunteers from all corners of Montana to defeat this dangerous amendment. Become part of our volunteer network!
Merely being pro-choice will not defeat a single anti-choice law, block a single anti-choice vote, or enact a single protection for reproductive rights.
Volunteer opportunities include:
And so much more!
Letters to the Editor
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