Be Wary of the Impact of LR-131

As the election date of Nov. 8 approaches unbelievably fast, the issues that are on the ballot need to be at the front of our minds as informed voters. One of the many bills that are being proposed is the Legislative Referendum-13. This bill is also known as the Montana Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. The proposed bill states that “infants born alive, including infants born alive after an abortion, are legal persons,” and that those who provide medical assistance are required to “take necessary actions to preserve the life of a born-alive infant.” This is basically stating that any infant that is alive after birth must be given every bit of medical assistance that it can in order for it to stay alive.

What this means is that if infants are born and they have a fatal infection, disease or condition that will make it virtually impossible for the medical staff to save it, the staff would have to provide all life-saving assistance that they can. This is the case even if they know it will not help the infant. If this bill passes and medical staff refuses to provide treatment, they could be charged with a felony, charged with a fine up to $50,000, and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison. Here is where it can get a bit confusing.

The current Montana State law already protects children from infanticide and says that those who violate this law will face criminal penalties. One of the main arguments for this bill to pass is that infants are being killed after the abortion, which seems to be a statement made strictly from someone’s opinion and not based in medical facts at all. An abortion is defined as “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy,” which clearly refers to the success in terminating the pregnancy.

The main opponents to this bill argue that if this bill were to pass, those who are already in an awful and gut-wrenching situation, such as having to come to terms with the death of their just born child due to illness, would not get those precious moments to connect with their child before their time was up. If this bill were to be passed, the infant would be taken from the parents moments after the birth in order for the medical staff to perform invasive and virtually unnecessary procedures on the dying child, who would not be returned to the parents.

This bill is something that should be thought about heavily before getting voted on. Whichever way you decide to vote, make sure that you are well informed about the issue that is being addressed with this bill. As college students, we are some of the most influential people to be voting in these elections and we need to make sure that we know just what it means to fill in the boxes on those slips of paper. It’s important to stay informed on what we will be voting on, so be sure to be educated on these topics.