Democratic Spokesperson Talks Farms, Abortions, and Student Loans

On Tuesday’s KGVO Talk Back Program, Chair of the Montana Democratic Party Robyn Driscoll fielded some tough questions from the listening audience on a variety of topics.

The first question dealt with the Democratic Party’s stance on abortion, after the recent controversy over the U.S. Supreme Court’s leaked decision to overturn Roe v Wade and allegations that the party supports abortion up till birth.

“Our party platform supports the right for every woman to make her own health care decisions and that includes abortion,” said Driscoll. “I would have to say that I totally disagree with you that the Democratic Party believes that abortion should be performed up until birth or, or letting a baby die after birth.”

Get our free mobile app

Driscoll was confident that no matter what the U.S. Supreme Court decides, that Montana will still allow a woman to choose an abortion.

“Our state constitution protects this right,” she said. “Montana's constitutional right to privacy will still protect our right to an abortion, and even if there is a special session once this decision is handed down, the bill or bills that would pass would go immediately to court and hopefully an injunction would be placed on that bill until the court makes a decision. Our party is strongly pro choice. It's in our platform.”

A listener addressed the issue of student loan forgiveness and how it would be financed. Driscoll said the vast majority of student loans are taken out by individuals who really need them.

“There are students with life situations where they can't work three jobs or two jobs or even one job while they're attending college because they may already have a job at home raising their children,” she said. “There are way too many life situations to say that one person should be able to receive a loan or they should be able to work and pay off their loans. There are just way too many real-life situations.”

Another listener compared student loans to government support for farmers.

“Our farmers are feeding the United States and quite frequently the world, and so when they have a bad year, the entire United States suffers, not just them,” she said. “I prefer not to see corporations take over our farms and ranches and in order to do that,  they definitely need some help.”

KGVO also hosts Don Kaltschmidt, the chair of the Montana Republican Party once a month.