LGBTQ+ and Abortion Rights

Clearly, LGBTQ+ and abortion rights are distinct topics, but I address the two topics in one section since they often are the most contentious of issues, especially for a Republican candidate.

The world is better off when people who love each other are not prevented from exercising equal rights in all respects. This should not be a controversial position, but in some corners it is.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco/Bay Area and then lived in New York City for many years. I grew up, went to school and worked with many LGBTQ+ individuals and reject any attempt to diminish their rights to full, equal and robust participation in all areas of life. This means that I support same sex marriage, I support the application of anti-discrimination laws to LGBTQ+ Montanans and I will oppose any efforts to deny LGBTQ+ Montanans of equal rights.

My mother and grandmother were in a concentration camp due to the fact that they were Jewish and they were held with others who Nazis thought were subhuman, including members of the gay community. I understand what happens when you marginalize and persecute those who are different from you and I will ensure that this never again happens, whether to Jews, LGBTQ+ individuals or anyone else.

A few extremist pundits have noted that when the same sex marriage case was being heard at the U.S. Supreme Court, I filed an amicus brief in support of the parties opposing the federalization of marriage rights. These pundits allege that my position was against same sex marriage. In fact, I clearly stated in my brief that I support same sex marriage. The truth can be seen by what I actually argued.

Rather than arguing against same sex marriage rights, my brief was a defense of federalism, the founding principle that where the federal government is not explicitly authorized to act, the states should be the primary source of law and regulation. I encourage everyone to read my brief to see that I supported same sex marriage rights while also defending each state's right to regulate in its traditional role as a state. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2589220

The same extremist pundits that falsely alleged I opposed same sex marriage rights claimed that a brief I filed in a different Supreme Court case was opposition to birth control.

My brief in that case, regarding whether a corporation owned by religious individuals were obligated under the Affordable Care Act to provide abortifacients to employees at no cost, had nothing to do with birth control. My brief argued that under Supreme Court precedent, for-profit corporations had First Amendment rights and those rights included the right to not violate the sincerely held religious beliefs of the corporation's owners. Again, you are invited to read my brief to see what I actually argued. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2667746

With regard to the specific issue of abortion, my position is the same as 90% of other Americans according to a recent Harvard poll: There should be a right to abortion, but it should be limited to certain gestational periods, exactly as is the case in most other American states as well as European countries.

Where the limits should apply is clearly a matter for the legislature to debate, based on the desires of the people of Montana. If elected, I will listen to those I represent in HD 59 to determine the contours of the limitations, but I will not support any legislation that either overtly or effectively eliminates the right. Likewise, I will not support any legislation that provides for unfettered rights to abortion after viability. The interests of the parents, and the health of the mother, will always be paramount.

I have seen protests in the City of Bozeman where those opposing the Supreme Court decision that abortion is an issue for states to deal with held up signs to the effect of "keep your rosaries out of my ovaries." I am a religiously observant person and would follow the teachings of my faith if I were to ever have to make a decision about abortion, but I don't believe religious beliefs should be incorporated into state law. I am Jewish, so rosaries are not part of my practice, but I respect those who believe that abortion is a sin. The bottom line for me, though, is that the state does not regulate sin and these are all individual choices that the parents, hopefully informed by many things, including faith, must decide.