It was interesting to read recent news coverage of the protests in Great falls responding to the Dobbs decision allowing states to ban abortion. Let’s start with a very simple fact. There is a long history of violence and intimidation around the abortion debate in this country. Virtually all that violence comes from the so-called right-to-life movement.
The Great Falls Tribune interviewed Liana Karlin, President of the Montana Chapter of the Right to Life for its story. Karlin complained that anti-abortion activists fear for their safety and that her national organization is now advising people to avoid “pro-choice provocations.” She concluded by alleging that Pro-Choice groups have a propensity for violence. “Years ago, I remember the Right to Life people being blamed for setting fires and doing whatnot,” Karlin said. “Most of the time they found out in the end, it was the Pro-Choice or Pro-Abortion people who were actually doing those things so we could be blamed.” To its credit the Trib pointed out that it was unaware of incidents of pro-choice advocates being identified as arsonists or agent provocateurs. But still, her big lie hangs in the air like Trump’s allegations of election fraud.
So, let’s recount just a few highlights of the anti-abortion movement’s violence. In March of 1993 Dr David Gunn, a physician who performed abortions, was murdered by a man who yelled, “don’t kill any more babies” right before shooting Dr Gunn in the back with a shot gun. In the late 1990’s a series of bombings killed 2 people and injured hundreds of others. The perpetrator, Eric Robert Rudolf, said his motivation was “abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand.” Between 1993 and 2016 anti-choice zealots murdered 11 people including doctors, clinic employees, a clinic escort, a security guard, and a police officer. There were 26 attempted murders in the same period.
Here in Montana anti-abortion protesters routinely surrounded clinics. Women attempting to use healthcare services were threatened and harassed by anti-abortion activists. Many people volunteered to escort them through the protest lines to assure women were able to access healthcare services. It was an ugly scene.
In addition, clinics in Montana have been routinely targeted for vandalism and arson. In 2014 All Families Healthcare, a family medicine and reproductive health-care facility in Kalispell, was broken into and severely damaged resulting in the clinic closing. Then there is the prolonged harassment of Dr Susan Wicklund who was providing health care services including abortions in Livingston. Wicklund was followed, threatened, and harassed. Her home was broken into, and her daughter had to be taken to school by a police escort. From 1993 to 1994, anti-choice activist Richard T. Andrews set fire to clinics in several states including clinics in Helena, Missoula and Kalispell.
While all this activity was illegal and outside the political process, the anti-abortion movement was busily organizing in the electoral arena. Orchestrating purges within the Republican Party, recruiting candidates, forming political action committees, and building coalitions. And the largest constituency of that effort was evangelical Christians and the issue that motivated them more than anything else has been abortion. After decades of political organizing through groups like the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, National Right to Life and the Federalist Society the anti-abortion movement has been the dominant force in the Republican Party and captured the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States Supreme Court, the US Senate and dominates the Congress.
More Extreme Activists Ride Anti-Abortions Coat Tails
It is no wonder that elements of the American hard right have gravitated to the power and energy that the anti-abortion movement has injected into our social fabric. Whether or not they care about abortion, they are astute enough to use the abortion controversy to promote their own agenda, which has historically focused more on issues like race and immigration, to recruit new members.
So, here in Great Falls it is not surprising to see hard right activists capitalizing on this controversy. Caleb Oriet, Director of the Montana Chapter of the American Populist Union, a home schooler from Highwood who has graduated into right-wing activism was quoted in the Tribune story. The Tribune published a picture of Oriet standing on a corner in front of Planned Parenthood holding an American flag over his shoulder and gun on his hip. He told the reporter that the American Populist Union is a conservative group that encourages young people to take a more active role in public policy. Like Karlin of Montana Right to Life, he said that pro-choice advocates have been responsible for violence, referencing a group called Jane’s Revenge, allegedly a group of pro-choice advocates engaging in violent acts across the country (See quote).
Jane’s Revenge emerged this spring following the leaking of the Supreme Court’s proposed
decision on Roe v Wade. It is an anonymous blog which publishes pieces calling for retaliation
against abortion opponents. It apparently has no organizational structure or public face. The blog
has claimed credit for some destruction of property directed at abortion foe facilities. National
pro-choice groups and active abortion rights supporters have refused to even acknowledge Jane’s
Revenge let alone endorse its actions and rhetoric. But anti-choice activists are using it as a straw
man to characterize the pro-choice movement similar to the far right’s creation of Antifa to
marginalize anti-racist activism. The pro-choice movement’s lack of support for Jane’s Revenge
stands in stark contrast to the anti-abortion movement’s wink and nod to the groups and
individuals behind clinic violence.
Box on Jane’s Revent
Oriet’s group, the American Populist Union, views itself as a Generation Z (born between 1997and 2012) conservative vanguard patterned on the Goyper movement which emerged in 2019. Both the Goypers and the American Populist Union announced themselves at the conservative student conference, Turning Point USA, held in Florida, the Goypers in 2019 and the American Populist Union in 2021. Right wing monitoring group, Political Research Associates, describes the American Populist Union as, “college-age or younger leaders, followers, and movement personalities (who) slander feminism and movements for LGBTQ rights and visibility as degenerate, argue for a moratorium on all immigration and a non- interventionist foreign policy, and view themselves as victimized by ‘anti-White hatred’ endemic across popular culture.”
The story of the Great Falls far-right anti-abortion movement could have been any corner of the U.S. From the extremes like the American Populist Union, to the relentless activism of Right to Life Montana, to the GOP elected officials representing the Electric City – the march to the hard right and away from democracy is on.
Notice the Republican yard signs on 10th Avenue South? Have you noticed that they are almost all in front of casinos, low rent motels and empty lots? Have to wonder what’s up with that. So, we took a minute to look a few things up.
Researching ownership of commercial property is tricky business since many owners create different legal entities to hold property and because the named owner may have little control over the property. With that said, here is a list of the casinos. Palace Casino, Cash Out Casino, Player’s Casino, Cash Out Gold Casino- (this one is owned by Buttrey Realty. Yes, that Buttrey). The motels are The Western and Plaza Inn (both owned by Metha Mukesh)
One must wonder why these are the only businesses with big bunches of Republican signs on 10th Ave South. Could it be that these businesses know that Republicans carry their water in the legislature?
The Gianforte Administration regularly acts as if laws, ethics, and norms don’t apply to them. Gianforte has demonstrated his ethics (or lack thereof) ranging from physical assault, stripping protection from public lands, to illegally hunting. It’s not surprising that his Lieutenant Governor, Kristen Juras, would flout norms too. Enter Cascade County District Court Judge David Grubich.
Judge Grubich is in a race to retain his seat following his interim appointment by Gianforte in 2021. This appointment itself was an astounding violation of non-partisanship. The Republican-led Montana Legislature refused to confirm the appointment by Democratic Governor Bullock of Michele Levine to the Cascade County District Court. It was the first time in 50 years the Montana State Senate failed to confirm an interim judge.
In a clear violation of the Judicial Conduct Code, Juras hosted a fundraiser on behalf of Grubich on April 14th.
Cover image for Facebook event, page accessed on April 4th, 2022.
Perhaps Judge Grubich doesn’t know the rules are different for judicial candidates versus legislative or executive branch officials? By accepting the Republican Lt. Governor’s partisan endorsement with a sponsored fundraiser, Judge Grubich is violating the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct. The Code specifically spells out the following:
Rule 4.1 – Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates in General.
A judge or judicial candidate shall not:
(7) seek, accept, or use endorsements from a political organization, or partisan or independent non-judicial office-holder or candidate.
The accompanying General Considerations text for Rule 4.1 explains why judges are held to this higher standard of impartiality and independence.
“Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of every case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free and appear to be free from political influence and political pressure.”
Does Judge Grubich appear to be free from political influence by accepting the partisan endorsement of Lt. Governor Juras? No.
How can we trust that Judge Grubich will be impartial and independent as a judge, if he’s willing to welcome a partisan endorsement to raise money for his campaign? Judges are not above the law, and Grubich’s failure to follow the Code of Conduct is a grim beginning to a “nonpartisan” campaign.
Is anyone else getting tired of whiney Republicans? The most recent example is an editorial sent across the state by 57 Republican Legislators (including Great Falls Legislators Wendy McKamey, Scott Kerns, Jeremy Trebas, Steve Gist, Steven Gallloway and Ed Buttrey). Their complaint is, once again, a screed against the judiciary. Didn’t any of them take 8th grade civics classes? What part of “checks and balances” don’t they understand?
This time around they are griping that a judge found several laws passed by the last legislature unconstitutional. The laws in question make it more difficult for people to vote. Why make voting in Montana more difficult? As usual, they trot out false arguments about voter fraud which have been proven repeatedly to be fake news. This is part of an effort by the Republican Party to undermine our faith in elections because Donald Trump lost the last one. . . never mind that Montana Republicans won all the state-wide offices and picked up many legislative seats in the last election. It’s ironic that so many Republican legislators think their own victory was rigged by Democrats.
Republicans in the last legislature repeatedly demanded confidential documents from the Montana Supreme court, which the court refused to provide. So, the legislature enlisted Republican Attorney General, Austen Knudsen, to complain on their behalf, taking their case all the way to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. It was a complete waste of resources to assert the legislature’s inflated view of their own power.
It’s bad enough that they waste time and money on these efforts to protect and preserve their power, but every time they lose, they revert to slinging insults like school yard bullies. In this last editorial they say the judge they disagree with is an “activist judge who doesn’t like common sense.” They go on to accuse the judge of being part of an imagined conspiracy, stating, “Judge Moses unilaterally blocked all these commonsense laws at the request of the Montana Democratic machine.” Quite an accusation considering the Republicans are in complete control of state government.
As a part of their continuing war with the judiciary, the Republican legislature eliminated the Judicial Nominating Commission so that Republican Governor Greg Gianforte could appoint whoever he pleases to judicial vacancies. Once again, the Republicans complained about being treated unfairly by “activist judges.” And, as a result, handed complete power to appoint judges to their Republican pal in the Governor’s office.
Many people think this is all just political posturing. That’s true. But the Republicans are preoccupied with creating smoke where there is no fire. While they are pointing fingers at the liberal judiciary, they whine about the border wall, wolves stalking our mountains, gays, trans, antifa, and socialists behind every tree, they are ignoring real problems that affect the day to day lives of Montanans.
Where is their concern about the fact that the Warm Springs State Hospital is failing the patients it is meant to take care of? What are they doing for farmers and ranchers who face manipulated and unfair prices for their products? What are they doing about the thousands of people who can’t find affordable housing? What about replacing and maintaining our aging infrastructure? These are serious issues, but Republicans don’t talk much about them.
Instead, Republicans are taking books out of local libraries, telling school boards what to teach in history class, arguing about masks, and promoting myths about election fraud. At the end of the day, these things have little to do with the quality of life here in Montana. The serious problems we face will not be addressed by the whining of overblown, self-important Republican legislators.
Ken Toole is a former state senator and former vice Chair of the Montana Public Service Commission. He is now retired and lives on an off-grid farm south of Great Falls.
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