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Abortion foes launch initiative By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Gazette State Bureau HELENA - The Montana ProLife Coalition is proposing a 2010 constitutional initiative that ultimately could ban abortion by declaring that human life begins when an egg is fertilized. Former Rep. Rick Jore, a Constitution Party member from Ronan, submitted the proposal for the coalition to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch. Legislative efforts by Jore and Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, failed in 2007 and 2009, respectively, to place similar proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. Jore and other backers of a separate initiative fell more than 18,000 votes short of qualifying it for the 2008 ballot. To appear on the 2010 ballot, a proposed constitutional amendment requires the signatures of 48,674 registered Montana voters, including 10 percent of the voters in 40 of the 100 state House districts. Jore couldn't be reached for comment, but Roland Horst of Bigfork, a member of the board of directors of the ProLife Coalition, said the group is testing the waters with several proposed constitutional amendments before settling on a single one. "The goal is to amend the constitution so that we do have a footing to give people rights," Horst said. "It's more than pre-birth. It covers you throughout life, including the aged, infirm and people with disabilities." "Our goal ultimately is to stop abortion," Horst said. "That's not what the change in the constitution will do. All it does is give people rights. It would take laws to implement. The Legislature would have to get together to create laws and pass them." Two abortion rights advocacy groups, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood of Montana, immediately denounced the proposal as an extremist attempt to interfere with a woman's right to privacy. "This dangerous measure would establish legal rights, starting at fertilization with the intent of banning legal abortion in our state and threatening stem cell research, in vitro fertilization and birth control," said Allyson Hagen, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Montana. She called instead for Montanans to find common ground and work to reduce unneeded pregnancies and the need for abortion by increasing women's access to affordable reproductive health care and birth control and by providing teens with medically accurate sex education. Stacey Anderson, public-affairs director for Planned Parenthood, said the proposed ballot measure grants "a fundamental and inalienable right to life" from the moment of fertilization that would supersede a pregnant woman's own right to health and life. She said it would be "devastating for the women of Montana, threatening not only their personal health and medical decision-making, but also their rights to privacy and dignity, beginning at the very earliest stages of their pregnancy." Meanwhile, a leading anti-abortion group, Right to Life of Montana, questioned the timing of the initiative while supporting its goal. "Right to Life of Montana agrees with the premise behind the amendment that all life should be protected and that the U.S. Constitution and the Montana Constitution never condoned abortion," said Gregg Trude, the group's executive director. "Until the U.S. Supreme Court changes, we do not believe this is the proper time for such an initiative." Published on Thursday, May 21, 2009. Last modified on 5/21/2009 at 12:15 am Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn