UPDATE on WYOMING Anti-Choice Initiative
Sender: BrendaIlg@aol.com (Brenda Ilg - Wyoming NOW)
Date: 10-SEP-1994 00:50:04.09

[Direct replies should be set to BrendaIlg@aol.com]

On September 7, 1994, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled to allow 
the extremely restrictive and punitive anti-choice Initiative 
#1 to appear on the November general-election ballot. The 3 
Justices that joined in the majority opinion admitted that, if 
passed into law, Initiative #1 would be unconstitutional. 
However, they ruled to allow the initiative to go on the 
November ballot regardless of its unconstitutionality because 
they did not want to interfere with the initiative process. 
Needless to say, advocates for reproductive choice have been 
dismayed and angered by this ruling.


ABOUT INITIATIVE # 1:

If passed, Initiative #1 would ban all abortions except in very 
extreme circumstances--- pregnancies that endanger the life of 
the woman and those that result from previously reported rape 
and insest.

By defining life to begin the moment the egg is fertilized, 
this initiative would allow the state to ban any method of 
contraception that can interfere with a fertilized egg, 
including some oral contraceptives (the pill) and the IUD 
(intrauterine device). As applied to miscarriages, the 
initiative would technically redefine them as acts of death. 
Any woman who miscarries could be suspected of terminating an 
unwanted pregnancy by committing a self-induced abortion.

As one of the Wyoming Supreme Court Justices noted during oral 
arguments in June, the definition of life contained by 
Initiative #1 could enable charges of homicide in the womb, 
regardless of intent.

If passed, this initiative would also require maximum prison 
sentences of 14 years for physicians performing abortions.

Ultimately, Initiative #1 is not about abortion; it's about 
controlling women's lives and infringing on their civil rights.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Wyoming NOW (along with Wyoming NARAL and other pro-choice 
groups and individuals) has been a plaintiff in the lawsuit to 
prevent Initiative #1 from going on the ballot. The cost of 
this long-standing lawsuit has been enormous, and we have just 
suffered our second loss in the Wyoming courts. Already, 
another expensive appeal is under way.

In addition to our court battle, we have launched a costly 
educational and political effort to defeat Initiative #1 at 
the polls in November. We need monetary donations to help 
develop, print, and distribute additional educational 
materials, do extensive "get out the vote" field work, and 
cover our rapidly escalating legal costs.

Help Wyoming NOW defeat Initiative #1, and uphold the United 
States Constitution. Please send a contribution to protect 
reproductive freedom in the Equality State. Whether it's $1.00 
or $1,000.00, we value all contributions to our efforts to 
defeat Initiative #1 at the ballot box in November, or in 
court.

Please make your non-tax-deductible contributions payable to 
Wyoming NOW today. Our address is: Wyoming NOW, 302 S. 10th, 
Laramie, WY 82070.

We appreciate your generosity and commitment to equality and 
human integrity. Thank you!