Keith Hammonds’ piece “Let the attack ads begin! Oh, wait, too late…” (Sept. 18) accused Jon Tester’s campaign of dishonesty regarding Tim Sheehy’s position on abortion. Sheehy has said he supports banning abortion with exceptions for “rape, incest, and the life of the mother.” But a Tester ad suggests that Sheehy would “limit exceptions to abortion.” Therefore, it is argued, Jon Tester is not telling the whole truth.
But the dishonesty here belongs squarely with Sheehy. Abortion bans, in reality, do not have exceptions. Take Mississippi, where abortion is illegal, but where exceptions protecting the life of the mother are provided in the law. For fear of prosecution and lack of funding, most medical providers refuse under any circumstances to provide the procedure.
I personally know a married couple in Montana whose doctor informed them that their pregnancy was not viable, and that carrying it to term would threaten the mother’s life. They desperately wanted a child, and the decision to have an abortion was heart-rending. Thankfully, Montana is still a state where the decision was left to them and their doctor. Had they lived in Idaho, and assuming they could find a doctor willing to perform the procedure, they and their doctor could have been criminally investigated.
To provide exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, the state must violate its citizen’s privacy. In most states with Sheehy’s “exceptions,” victims of rape are required to report the assault to law enforcement before receiving the procedure. Victims of incest are required to provide documentation to their doctor, potentially putting them in even more danger with their assailant. Are Montanans really willing to allow their citizens to live under such profound violations of privacy?
Most Montanans believe that women who face a life-threatening miscarriage should be able to receive common-sense healthcare without law enforcement getting involved. Voters deserve to know why Sheehy thinks abortion-ban “exceptions” would work in our state, when their failure in other states is well documented.
