by Toddy Perryman, Hamilton
I am curious about why the chair of Montanans for Life, Robin Sertell, found it necessary to lie about the funding sources for the campaign to secure reproductive rights options for Montanans. She claims that Planned Parenthood is spending $40 million to fund abortion access ballot measures in eight states. She further claims that Planned Parenthood gets ‘government subsidy by way of our tax dollars … to put toward political activism? Really?’
Well no, not really. That is a big lie that she is surely aware of. Planned Parenthood does get federal money to help pay for health care for women. 97% of the work that Planned Parenthood does is to provide health care screenings for all women, regardless of ability to pay. (When I was young and poor, I relied on them to provide health care. It was the only health care I could afford.) Funding for political reasons comes from an entirely different pool of money (Planned Parenthood Action Fund), and Sertell surely knows this. If not, then she has not done the minimum necessary to write the letter she wrote.
Less than 3% of Planned Parenthood ‘s work involves abortion. But when a woman needs this type of health care, they are often the only provider available.
CI-128 is a ballot measure that will likely be on the November ballot. Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights (MSSR) gathered more than enough signatures to put it there. This shows that Montanans want this issue to be there. Whenever this issue gets on any ballot, it has won at the election because the vast majority (more than 60% nationwide) of people support the right to make their own healthcare choices. This includes Montanans. Sertell seems to imply that Montanans don’t want this on the ballot, but the number of signatures gathered suggests this too is a lie.
The letter author goes on to make numerous other assertions about CI-128 which I sincerely doubt because of her willingness to lie so blatantly about the money. She claims out-of-staters are supporting the abortion issue nationwide. Well, duh….it is a national issue. Some states have made health care choices for women unavailable. For instance, some Idaho hospitals have had to close their maternity services because of the loss of obstetrics doctors afraid of getting put in prison for providing necessary health care for some women. Montana hospitals need to take up some of those patients. Montana doctors want to be able to provide a full range of options for all of their patients.
Montanans want a full range of choices available to us when we see our doctors. We don’t want anyone forcing us to make choices based on the religious convictions of others. Vote FOR CI-128 this November.