Opinion by M Dawn, Helena, MT
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Attending the pro-choice rally, albeit I was a little late to the party this round, was interesting. There were about 80 people in attendance at the height of the event, with live music and three speakers. Among some famous names in attendance was Diane Sands, a former representative for the Montana State Senate. Gladly, she showed her pride for abortion rights for women and to change the constitution of the state of Montana to forever allow abortion, silence any further rabble-rousing on the part of the opposition, and force a change that has not been heard of before this year. Strangely, even though this was said to be a grassroots effort, it would seem most Montanans were under the impression abortion was legal already through all nine months in Montana. And that would be because it is.
The state of Montana has no real ban of any kind on abortion, a law in place for parental notification, and protections currently for women to take action against their provider if something goes wrong, like any other practicing physician. All seems like common sense. Let’s get into some interesting facts about Montana you may not know. Here we go.
Now, there are more things to talk about from my experience at the women’s rights rally. In all honesty, a few younger people were attending; some young mothers brought their children. This seems a little inappropriate, given the nature of some of the signs. Such as, “Keep your filthy hands off my silky drawers”, and elderly women walking around talking about … excuse the profanity, pussies. They also discussed amongst themselves that it takes a penis to make this all happen, so they mused allowed, “Where are all the men?!” Quite irate, in fact, one woman named Katherine (no last name) mused of her youthful days of being a staffer at the Capitol and getting wild and crazy and hopping up on top of the Horseman (Meagher statue) and riding him. This seems inappropriate because, if memory serves, several years ago, a young man was attending a local rally for Stop the Steal, in which case, in his zeal, he climbed atop the same statue, was reprimanded, and was made into a spectacle by local media. But it’s different if you are a Democrat. So, carte blanche and tell the world!
This woman also consoled her friend who was in attendance. This woman lost her mother that morning in Great Falls. I wondered why it was more important for her to attend an abortion rally, one of many she has been to, rather than her own mother’s bedside. I won’t judge anyone; we all do strange things in grief, and I honestly pray for her and her loss.
Going back to Katherine's story for a moment. I could not help but be taken in by her ability to tell a great story, profanity and all. What gusto. What a character. What a brave fighter for women’s rights! So, I was all ears when it came to her last story. She told all of those standing around that Diane Sands had been raped by a Catholic Priest when she was young, became pregnant, and her mother sent her away to Florence Crittenton in 1957 or so. I thought, how terrible and what a harrowing experience! I must follow up with the former Senator Sands.
As fate would have it, her email address is still working. So I emailed her to ask her a very direct question. Did this happen to you, and can we talk more about it? What an inspiration this would be if it were true! Ms. Sands replied promptly by stating that she had never been raped, and her first love was a monk, not a priest, and there was no pregnancy. This is a different story than the pro-abortion advocates are spreading around the block. Then I wondered if anything Katherine had to say was true. This seems like a very far out-of-whack story, so I wonder how many strangers with press she has told this fiction to.
For the record, Diane Sands did share her story in an interview years ago, and did call her first love a priest. So she ALSO isn’t credible, and I found that disheartening. We can’t trust our women leaders and elderly generation to tell us the truth. Who CAN we trust? Are they lying to us about abortion? Now I think we need to ask more questions