I was asked, and happily comply with the request, to respond to readers who voice concerns over my positions. I deeply appreciate the effort by Dean Grenz of Boulder to contact me personally in addition to submitting letters to The Monitor. All of my contact info is included in each piece and correspondence is encouraged.
If I am re-elected, I look forward to carrying another Personhood bill. The Amendment requires approval by two-thirds of all legislators to qualify for the ballot. Once on the ballot, it would need to pass the voters. The system is good. No matter where we stand, it should be difficult to amend our Constitution. Additionally, with a Republican governor (my hope, anyhow) the option for direct laws outlawing abortion would be broadened. My desire would be to see some prohibitive law go into effect. My hope is to see abortion outlawed in Montana.
The way the Personhood bill reads, if the Amendment passed and was put into the Constitution, it would grant due process to all Montanans from the point of conception. This would by implication mean all the laws regarding homicide would apply as equally to a child in the womb as they do to you and me.
If, in 2021, the Personhood bill passes the legislature, it would be placed on the ballot for 2022. If the voters passed it on that ballot, the 2023 legislature would “implement this section by appropriate legislation.” That means the 2023 legislative body would put into effect any necessary laws regarding this clause. They would decide who, what, when and where regarding penalties and statute.
Currently, in our Montana Code Annotated, a person may be charged for double murder if the victim was pregnant. The laws of our state recognize the fact that if a baby in the womb is killed, it is murder. So this initiative simply clarifies and makes concise constitutionally what we already see on the books. Hopefully, this would bind the Supreme Court of Montana to uphold its amended Constitution. Do I believe they would? No. But you do what is right because it’s the right thing to do.
Regarding countries which prohibit abortion and the seemingly negligible effect of this, Mr. Grenz asked what I would do to prevent women from getting illegal abortions. There is nothing I can do to prevent anyone from doing anything illegally. All any legislation can do is reward those who do right, and punish those who do evil. If we decided not to implement laws because people would break them anyhow, it would be a sad world. All countries (far more than the 13 cited) prohibit murder. Yet, the murder rate is still substantial in all countries. Does this imply we shouldn’t bother with homicide laws? Should we legalize all murder so folks don’t need to sneak around and get murders done dangerously and covertly in some back alley? Should we make theft safe, legal, and rare? Is it endangering robbers to force them to steal at night, in the dark?
What about the morning after pill? Again, this would be determined by the sitting legislature. If I were there I would certainly vote to ban this pill. A fertilized egg is a person. Left to grow, you became you. We were all fertilized eggs once. Preventing implantation of a person consisting of four cells is no different morally than preventing the life of a person with 35 trillion cells. Viability is an illusion. It is an arbitrary line drawn by abortion advocates to placate their conscience. Even after birth, a baby is still 100% dependent on assistance in order to live. Should those who distribute this pill be prosecuted as accessories to murder? Those who dispense an illegal prescription should be prosecuted for that, not accessory to murder. I would not prosecute a gun dealer whose gun was used to kill someone, or the city of Helena for providing the water someone may be drowned in.
When men and women choose the activity of sex, they necessarily should take upon themselves the responsibility of the outcome. Killing any children who are produced from this is not birth control, it is murder. It is due to adult irresponsibility and the desire to wash away the “consequences” of their actions that abortion is an issue. Children in the womb are easy targets, more so since our U.S. Supreme Court declared open season on them in 1973.
Families are the building blocks of any society and are the product of the union of a man and a woman. If a society is to survive to the next generation, children must be born. A society that beats back or kills off its children is sick and dying. Any attempts at enjoying the benefits of a family while trying to escape the responsibilities for a family — abortion, adultery, fornication, “free” love, fill in a sexual sin here — will lead to strife and decay. These are plain facts and Exhibit A is all around us.
Mr. Grenz also asked me what my long range goals for Montana are. My hope for Montana is that we would be a state “wherein righteousness dwells.” Societies need laws. Laws come from religions. We can either come up with our own laws, everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, or we can stick with God’s laws, historically called “the laws of Nature.” Christianity offers the most tolerant and gracious law system known to mankind because it comes from The Creator of mankind. We used to cling to this system but we’ve thrown it off and reap the whirlwind. Someone please write in and ask about that.
Rep. Greg DeVries (R-Jefferson City) represents House District 75. Contact him at greg.devries@mtleg.gov and via his Facebook page.
