Access to reproductive health care is the issue that first pulled me into community organizing. On the campaign trail I lead with property taxes and schools, and this one stays close to my heart as a large part of why I got involved at all.

So I want to say plainly where I stand. I support a person’s access to reproductive health care and their right to make private medical decisions with their doctor. I am grateful for the endorsement of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.

I also believe we are often told we have to be divided on this, and that division is not the whole story. The policies that support families are the same policies that save lives and help people plan their lives with confidence.

Some of that is prevention: age-appropriate education, access to contraception, affordable health care, and privacy that people can count on. Some of it is making room for a growing family: paid family leave, affordable childcare, and the economic footing that makes welcoming a child feel possible. One set helps a person avoid a pregnancy they are not ready for. The other helps a person say yes to raising a child with real support behind them.

Both come from the same place. I would rather get ahead of a problem than pass a law that punishes people after the fact. When we support families at every step, more Montanans get to build the life they want on their own terms.

That is common ground worth standing on, and I will stand on it in Helena.

Join the movement at smithformontana.com/donate