The power of the far right wing was potently demonstrated a couple months ago. Initiative 694 proponents gathered 10,000 more valid signatures than they needed in only six weeks, with no paid signature gatherers. How they got this many signatures and how they hope to pass I-694 in November has been in large part due to deception: using the un-born to fool the un-dead.

I have heard from people who signed I-694 who were told that it would outlaw so-called "partial-birth abortion." I have seen letters to the editors of major newspapers claiming the same thing and calling it the "truth about I-694." It's a lie.

The proponents of I-694 are people who desire to see all abortions, for any reason, stopped. American Heritage Party member Ellen Craswell's personal doctor and neighbor, Robert Bethell, filed the initiative. It is part of the American Heritage Party platform to abolish all abortions. I-694 would go a long way to accomplish that if passed. A similar "partial birth" measure last spring in Wisconsin nearly brought legal abortions to a halt for two months due to the ambiguity of the law's language and medical practitioners' fear of prosecution. A debacle at least as serious looms in Washington state.

Activists and political analysts alike in Washington state have for years underestimated the effectiveness of Craswell's grass roots political organization. With overt hostility from every mainstream media outlet in the state, Craswell, as a Republican, still managed to pull 42% of the vote for Governor in 1996. She did it through years of patient groundwork that has put in place a church-based political network with a presence in every precinct in the state. That network--in addition to gathering signatures--can be counted on to turn out on election day.

I-694 nowhere bans any abortion procedure, let alone the so-called "partial birth" one. What the initiative actually does is define the process of birth in such a way that almost all abortions would include the process of birth. As far as doctors and lawyers can figure out (this initiative has strange non-medical language that claims to be based on medical science), I-694 would outlaw all abortions after eight weeks of gestation. The initiative even claims not to affect abortion, but clearly does--yet another lie.

Another lie is that this would affect only third-trimester abortions. These are already illegal in Washington State except to protect the life or health of the woman. Instead, there is no language in I-694 that talks about viability or gestation periods, so it can be applied to any point in a pregnancy.

Because I-694 uses non-medical terminology and then claims to be based on medicine, as well as the interference into doctors performing the best medicine they can, the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) is opposing I-694. I-694 even tries to change medical and scientific standards that no law has any jurisdiction to do--but then, many of the same crowd backing I-694 think evolution is blasphemous science, too.

Already many organizations are opposing I-694, including the ACLU, Northwest Women's Law Center, NOW, Washington NARAL, Planned Parenthood, WSMA, Washington Women United, and dozens of others, for a simple reason: I-694 is an assault on women's rights.

I-694 would be clearly thrown out of court as unconstitutional, but we shouldn't wait until then to stop it. We should send a clear message to the religious political extremists that we do not tolerate challenging a woman's right to choose, and we are offended that they are trying to use emotions and lies to further their agenda. Vote NO on I-694, volunteer on the NO campaign, and if you can, help finance the NO campaign. The campaign phone number is 206-728-5919 in Seattle; 253-627-2997 in Pierce County. They would love your help.