Opinion
Editor, My Montana education taught me that rights go hand in hand with responsibilities. For instance, the right to vote includes the responsibility to be an informed voter. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court established a woman’s legal right to abortion. The pivotal question: When does life begin? After enormous debate, the Supreme Court chose fetal viability to answer this question. In the 50 years since Roe v Wade, countless medical advancements significantly improved and extended fetal viability. Hence in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the trimester framework to establish fetal viability and found no constitutional right to abortion. However, the Court empowered the ...
This fall, we have the opportunity to send an experienced and fair-minded judge to the Montana Supreme Court. District Court Judge Dan Wilson has the background, courtroom experience and temperament to be an excellent justice. Prior to serving for the last eight years as a district court judge, he was a pros...
Editor, Proponents of CI-128 frame the initiative as the only way to protect abortion rights. But let’s be clear: Montanans already have strong protections for abortion under our state constitution. Since the Armstrong v. State case in 1999, Montana’s Supreme Court held that the state Constitu...
We are two Veterans with 44 years of combined service to the United States. We served united around one mission because we believed the American values of freedom, independence, and democracy were worth sacrificing for. Today, we remain united in our devotion to our country and our belief that we can and ...
Editor, Montana is changing. Freedoms we have taken for granted are being threatened by intolerant political agendas spawned at the national level. The incessant hate and fear dialogue emanating from a relatively small sector of extreme right-wing interests dominates our lives. We are better than this; we...
Editor, As a retired Missoula Municipal Court Judge, I write to ask for your support of District Court Judge Dan Wilson, candidate for the Montana Supreme Court. I have known Judge Wilson for many years, and he embodies the qualities we need on the Supreme Court. His background demonstrates a solid founda...
Editor, When debating legislation, legislators are always looking for unintended consequences. If you are prolife or prochoice, CI 128 must be a major concern. Hidden in the text of the initiative is language that gives blanket immunity to abortion providers for malpractice, incompetence or outright crimi...
The Montana Newspaper Association surveyed candidates for the state legislature, Public Service Commission and statewide offices about their positions on government accountability, transparency and the right to know. Of 281 candidates receiving survey, 111 responded, or about 40%. Among respondents &mdash...
Editor, Deviating from my usual style of letters, here’s one that simply offers some inspiring thoughts. Hope you find them meaningful and even perhaps helpful in these present very “trying times” for us all. Offered by Dr. Debasish Mridha of Saginaw, Michigan, a physician, philosophe...
“The truth will set you free.” We’ve all heard this iconic sentence, but what does it mean, really? More importantly, what exactly is the truth? That depends on whom you are asking. Because I’ve come to believe that each of us has our own truth. What is my truth, with a capit...
