Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: My name is Lee Ann Bear, from Kalispell. I represent Montana Prolife Coalition and many other voiceless women across the state.

In the case of abortion, the privacy they talk about is between a woman or girl and her physician. My experience was not private. It was like cattle being shoved through the gates of an auction. I was 16 years old, scared, and was referred to Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood’s nurse practitioner told me my baby and I had only a 50/50 chance of surviving the pregnancy due to having a common vaginal infection. They acted like I was going to die if I carried the child. They didn’t inform me of the dangers of an abortion on a first pregnancy, that I might not be able to have any children because of the abortion. I had no counsel to help me make a private, educated decision. Without an informed understanding, I could only make an ignorant manipulated decision.

The abortion itself was gruesome. There was no privacy in the process; it was like grand central station. There were at least 3 people present in the room and 3 or 4 more going through the room. They only gave me enough anesthesia to get halfway through the abortion. I could hear and feel the scraping. Even with my screaming in pain and begging for pain relief, they wouldn’t give me any more anesthetic. It was like they wanted to hurt me and take away all my dignity. It was traumatic, degrading, but also more painful than having a baby, and I’ve had two live births.

The abortion was 34 years ago, but I remember the details like it was yesterday. I can almost feel the pain; that’s how bad it was. Worse yet, I live with the enduring consequence of guilt, knowing I murdered my healthy baby.

The right to individual privacy led to my legal decision to have an abortion that I regret. This right to privacy kept me isolated and left me uninformed. Clearly this severely infringed upon my well-being and destroyed my child. Both of us were members of a free society, and our protection should have been a compelling state interest. I know there are thousands of other wounded women here in Montana suffering this same plight. Even one is too many. I urge you to support Senate Bill 46.