Candidate wants to stop abortions

Suzanne Brooks, a Whitefish candidate for Senate District 2, says she was raised a Democrat.

“My family were Democrats and I became a Democrat,” she said.

But that all changed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

“The Democratic platform supports abortion, and the Republican supports life,” she said. “That’s when I made the switch.”

This is Brooks’ second run at the Montana senate. She’s in a three-way primary race against Republicans Dee Brown, of Coram, and Bill Beck, of Whitefish. Both have served in the state house.

The primary winner will face Whitefish Democrat David Fern in the November general election. Republican Ryan Zinke, who currently represents the joint Columbia Falls-Whitefish senate district, is running for lieutenant governor.

Brooks, who is retired, moved to Whitefish 16 years ago after making the move to Montana to be in the mountains and near Glacier National Park. A law school graduate who taught school in Chicago, Brooks says she has one main campaign goal.

“I’m anxious to do something about restricting abortion,” she said.

Roe vs. Wade gave women in the U.S. the “right to an abortion,” but it also provides an op-out clause for states with a compelling interest, she said.

For Brooks, that compelling interest is an imbalance in the state’s population — a decrease in the number of school-age children and the need for those children to eventually fill jobs.

“The older population is moving here to retire,” she said. “The birth rate is really low.”

Brooks also says DNA testing shows that a baby’s DNA is the same at the beginning of life as it is 20, 50 or even 90 years later.

“You definitely have a person,” she said. “If you use a gun to kill a person, it’s murder, but if you kill a person with abortion, it’s not considered murder. It’s murder to me.”

Taxes are another campaign issue for Brooks.

“Property and business taxes,” she said. “I have a few ideas on that. Taxes are getting out of hand.”

She points to newer structures that have driven up the taxes of nearby older homes.

“Taxes have gone sky high,” she said. “We need to reduce the tax rate on older, historic structures.”

Brooks says her 25-year teaching career gives her the background to deal with education. She said it’s an issue she plans to learn more about.

Although Brooks identifies with the Republican Party, she said she likes Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer and supported some of his actions, including rejecting a federal requirement that citizens must carry a federal identification card.

“I will work across the aisle,” she said. “That’s the only way to get things done.”