Letter to the editor

The long arm of the government – in this case the Montana state government – wants to sit in on your doctor’s appointment and tell you and your doctor what you cannot do. They want to threaten your doctor with up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

If you are pregnant in Montana and your pregnancy is in trouble for any reason, the state will mandate that, if a heartbeat or breath or voluntary movement is detected, no matter what the situation – and even if the fetus is not viable – extraordinary measures MUST be taken.

LR 131 is government overreach at its most extreme. Legislators have decided that they know more about medicine than your doctor. And they want to dictate what women must do with their bodies, their lives, their families.

Would those legislators be willing to help pay the unaffordable medical bills incurred to keep a dying fetus temporarily alive even if it had no chance of living on its own? Would they care about the pain and suffering they have caused for both mother and child? Do they know what is right for everyone in all situations?

What in the world is LR 131 even about? Scare tactics? Power? Control? Or, more cynically, getting out the vote? Undeniably, it’s about government overreach.

It certainly ISN’T about Montana values of privacy, dignity, and self-determination.

Vote NO on LR131. Don’t let the legislature sit in on your doctor’s appointment.

submitted by Candace Forrette