Hi-Line Women's Coalition holds first pro-choice public event

The newly formed Hi-Line Women's Coalition held their first public event Friday at Triple Dog Brewing Company, with about 10 members of the group registering voters and talking about reproductive rights, which they feel are under threat in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Coalition Board Co-Chairs Morgaine Lomayesva and Julea Robbins said the group formed after the Supreme Court's decision, which they said threatens Montana women's right to a basic health care procedure, and, more broadly, to all Montanan's right to privacy.

The board has seven members including Robbins and Lomayesva.

Lomayesva said while their group's primary goal is to educate people about reproductive rights and the right to privacy, they also mean to work toward a state Legislature that protects the Montana Constitution and its exceptionally robust right-to-privacy protections.

"We're actively concerned with creating a Legislature that will protect us," she said.

She said she feels there is a perception that this issue is something that only people in liberal states care about, but it affects women everywhere, whether they're someone's relative, friend or neighbor, and she said she and Robbins feel that the right to privacy is something Montanans, rightly, feel very strongly about.

They said eliminating the right to an abortion on the state level will weaken the right to privacy generally, which will have a profound impact on women and men, which is why their group actively seeks members and support people regardless of gender and regardless of party.

They stressed that while they will actively support and endorse candidates, they are not going to endorse a party, as they believe there are many conservatives who lean more libertarian, who they would happily embrace as allies.

Robbins said the group has been reaching out to legislators, but they want to hear from any representative, or prospective representative, who supports their cause.

They said this is not a right that should be used as a bargaining device, like so many other things in politics, and they have no problem letting people know when a legislator goes back on their word.

Both Lomayesva and Robbins said having to form such a group to fight for a right they believed was theirs is deeply frustrating, as they'd thought the matter was more or less resolved until earlier this year.

"This was settled," Robbins said. "This is something that we never thought we would have to deal with, or that our children would ever have to deal with again. We're not OK with our children having less rights than we did."

When it comes to local candidates, they have said they've reached out to Democratic Candidate for House District 28 Paul Tuss and Republican Incumbent Ed Hill. They are recommending people vote for Tuss.

They said Tuss has been receptive and open with them about his position on the matter and is happy to talk to anyone about why he supports their cause, but Hill actively works against their cause so they cannot in good conscience recommend people vote for him.

They said that misinformation about things like abortion and reproduction in general is so rampant that education is the organization's primary purpose.

"In this country there is a drought of understanding when it comes to how reproduction works," Robbins said.

They said they encounter a tremendous amount of misinformation when they are doing outreach, which is extremely concerning considering there have been rumblings in state-level politics around the U.S. about going after contraception access as well.

Robbins said that is frightening not just because contraception is such a basic part of health care, but because so many who would be voting on such a matter have no idea how it works, in part due to woefully inadequate sex education.

They said the fact that they have to fight for a right that the vast majority of Americans support is also incredibly distressing, as they've watched extremist voices become the loudest in politics.

While the recent vote in Kansas, one of the U.S. most conservative states, to remove protections for abortion from their constitution failed with 58 percent against vote, was encouraging, they said, it is difficult to feel optimistic for Montana during an election year, and they don't know who exactly will be voting on these issues.

While Friday was their first big public event, it will not be their last, they said, as they will have events throughout the coming months and will be at this year's Festival Days.

She said they're biggest event will be a fundraiser Oct. 1 and will feature a show by Montana comedian Sarah Aswell.

Robbins and Lomayesva said anyone interested in their group can reach them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HLWCoalition, or email them at [email protected].

They said the group is based, as their name implies, on the Hi-Line, but they have members from around the state, as well as supporters in other states who were born and raised in Montana.