Daniel Woodard, Bismarck, letter: Senator talks the pro-life talk, but …

BISMARCK — State Sen. Curtis Olafson, R-Edinburg, doth protest too much in fighting HB 1450, the Defense of Human Life Act (“Bill set N.D. up for expensive failure,” Page A4, April 19).

If he had such a problem with the bill, why did he vote for it in committee after it passed the House 68-25?

He carried the bill to the Senate floor, which signaled his support for it, but then he motioned to table the bill and added a clincher motion which requires a two-thirds vote to reconsider it.

Yet, he publicly has attacked anybody who has questioned the motives behind his blatantly hypocritical actions.

Olafson says he voted for legislation to ban abortion back in 2007, but abortion continues in Fargo, with 1,200 children being killed each year.

The rape exception in that bill extends all the way to birth with no reporting/verification requirements. So abortion would stay legal in 100 percent of cases as long as the abortion doctor falsely reports that the pregnant mother was raped.

The coalition that brought HB 1450 forward consisted of six legislators and five major North Dakota pro-life groups.

Was Olafson implying that these fine people are “out-of-state extremists”?

Olafson offered exceptions to HB 1450 in committee that would have permitted the killing of children with Down Syndrome, cleft palate, a curved spine or other physical imperfections. He offered an undefined “health” exception that would include any excuse to abort (i.e., the “no-fault” ground of abortion).

Fortunately, those hateful exceptions were not included in his final amendments on HB 1450.

Is he really as pro-life as he claims, or is he the tool of Planned Parenthood?

I hope the Senate Republican and Democratic leadership to take HB 1450 off the table and pass it before it is too late for our unborn children. There are more than enough votes in the Senate to pass it.

Please do the right thing.

Daniel Woodard

Woodard is a lobbyist for the North Dakota Life League.

Tags: in the mail, hb 1450, nd legislature, opinion, politics, abortion, health, updates