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Advocates, opponents mark Roe v Wade anniversary in Helena

Posted: Jan 22, 2010 11:08 AM by Marnee Banks/KXLH
Updated: Jan 22, 2010 11:08 AM

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It's been 37 since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that women may abort a pregnancy up to the point the fetus is able to live outside the mother's womb.

Today in Helena, pro-choice supporters came together in support of the ruling.

Allyson Hagen of NARAL Pro-Choice America urged Montanans to reject signing a petition to advance the proposed Constitutional Initiative 102.

CI-102, also known as the "personhood amendment," would define “person” as every human being, regardless of age, health, function, physical or mental dependency, or method of reproduction, from the beginning of the biological development of that human being.

And Nikki Zupanic of NARAL Pro-Choice America said, "And it is a little bit crazy to keep having this same argument over and over again, but if the anti-choice extremists are up for this fight so are we."

The ACLU also attended the rally to encourage the public to not sign the petition.

Renee St. Martin Wizeman, communications director for the Diocese of Helena, says that Roman Catholic bishops will not support CI-102, but for different reasons than pro-choice supporters.

She explained that Catholics are choosing to spend their time and resources on addressing the privacy provision in Montana's Constitution, and added, ""Ultimately it's one of sadness, because I think women very specifically have been misled into thinking that this is a victory. As Catholics we believe all lives have value and every single life has value from conception to natural death."

Advocates of both pro-life and pro-choice agree that there's a lot of work to be done during the 2010 election year and before the 2011 legislative session.

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