Cascade Courier - Your trusted local news source since 1910

Many of you have been hearing about ballot initiative 14, some of you perhaps not. This is one political item that you do not want to ignore. What is it you ask? It is a proposal written by Planned Parenthood (national group) that if enough signatures are gathered by June, will place on the fall ballot a proposal to enshrine unlimited abortion in our state constitution. As you read this many paid for, out-of-state proponents of abortion are canvassing our towns and cities asking people to sign the petition to get this on the fall ballot. It is funded by many groups that buy into the wholesale murdering of the unborn, by any means and at any time.

The ballot language has not been approved by our state attorney general, nor has it received a stamp of legal approval by the legislative committee overseeing it. In fact when the proposal was rejected by the attorney general and sent back to the proponents (Planned Parenthood) to be rewritten as is the normal and legal process, the liberal State Supreme Court took the rejected ballot measure and rewrote it themselves. They then had the audacity to tell the attorney general, and legislature, they had no need to review it as it is now sufficient. That my friends is clearly a violation of the separation of powers, and blatant activist judicial interference.

So, we have signatures being collected on a proposal that is still severely lacking in legal standing, and with many problems and omissions in what it states. The following are just a few items that the initiative, as written, is murky, misleading, and dangerous to Montana women, girls, and babies.

I do not support this amendment to our state constitution for the following reasons:

The Supreme Courts involvement is illegal and a violation of the separation clause.

The language is vague and undefined, opening the door to almost anyone being able to perform an abortion in our state.

The viability issues of the baby are not well defined.

The health and life of the child is discounted.

Parental rights are violated, no one can interfere with an underage girl having an abortion, so the rapist, or pimp can take a girl to a clinic and make her have the abortion with no repercussions.

It is child abuse to the underage girls who will be forced to kill their babies, to the dismemberment of the child during third-trimester and partial birth abortion procedures which will become legal if this goes through.

The door is flung open for out of state sex traffickers to bring young girls in state for the killing of their babies.

Due process is violated.

All accountability for abortion providers is lost. There is no oversight in the ballot initiative to ensure the safety of the women in the case of a botched abortion, or to protect the child if it is born alive and survives the gruesome procedure.

This bill would open the door to taxpayer funded abortions.

This bill allows for no remedy for the families of women killed or harmed by abortion.

Failure to act will make Montana a one-stop shopping ground for the unregulated murder of our most precious resource, our unborn babies and future.

If you have already been tricked into signing a petition you can withdraw your signature by going to the secretary of state website. Once there go to “Ballot Issue Overview, Forms, and Guidelines”, click on the link “Request for Withdrawal of Petition Signature Form” and follow the instructions.

Most Montanans care about kittens, puppies, wolves and bears, let’s give the unborn at least the same amount of love and compassion.

Dave Carroll is an area missionary with InFaih, America’s oldest Christian home mission agency. He is also pastor of the Wolf Creek Baptist Church. You can contact Dave at 406.459.8935 or davecarroll@infaith.org