April 29, 2021 rustlernews.com
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ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT REFLECTS ON MASK MANDATE
by Isabel Foley, staff writer As for lifting the mandate Hoyer said that there are guidelines as to On March 17, the mask mandate for Cascade County was lifted. However, the mandate was not lifted for the schools. Like many others, I was curious when restrictions can begin to be lifted. These guidelines include infection rates, numbers of staff infections, and goals set by the county, ten or fewer as to why. Heather Hoyer, the assistant superintendent for secondary schools, explained why masks are still mandatory in school. infections per 10,000 people. When schools announced they would be opening one of the “Our current policy is that we’re maintaining masks… our biggest concerts was how students would handle masks, big push right now is that we really want to get our faculty who wants to be vaccinated vaccinated,” Hoyer said. especially younger students. Hoyer said that this was never a concern of hers and she has been impressed with just how Hoyer said that most classrooms are enclosed and crowded, and social distancing can become next to impossible. She well students handle masks. “Our kids are able to handle masks, and they’ve done said that she believes masks make teachers and students it beautifully. And you might see some wonderful creative feel safe. “I think it makes our teachers feel safe, and it allows masks, it gives kids ways to express themselves and keep themselves safe,” She said. While masks are a controversial more kids to come back to school,” she said, adding that subject, Hoyer said that we should strive for safety above all. masks will likely remain as a choice in the future. “We need to keep it safety-focused and not political. When “I would assume that moving forward, masks will always be an option for students and families… [Masks are] something Heather Hoyer. Photo by, Isabel we politicize masks is when we start to really run into a lot of conflict,” she said. we’ll work with them on because we want our students and Foley. staff to feel safe,” Hoyer said adding that safety was the However, teenagers she finds are more willing to work through main concern adding that with covid numbers seeming to any obstacle, no matter how unfamiliar. We need to keep decline what we are doing appears to be working. “I’m really proud of our kids… I wish sometimes people it safety-focused and “We know that our safety and our sanitation policies would take a page out of the books of some of our teenagers, not political. When seem to be working, but we want to be sure that we keep because you guys are so understanding and you’re so we politicize masks adaptable. There’s nothing we don’t throw at kids that they everyone safe as we can. So because we’re in an enclosed is when we start to don’t say, okay, I can do this, we can handle this. And they population... we’re going to keep the masks in place or recommend that we keep the masks in place,”she said really run into a lot of figure out a way to make it work, and as a result we’ve had a explaining that it is a school board decision in the end. Hoyer pretty successful year.” conflict said that input from the community was rather balanced between keeping masks and lifting the mandate.
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3 OUT OF 10 PREGNANCIES END IN ABORTION half of all pregnancies, 121 millon, are unintended every year
6 out of 10 unintended pregnancies end in abortion 45% of all abortions are unsafe 4.7% to 13.2% of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion 40 out of 1000 women will have an abortion when it is unrestricted
36 OUT OF 1000 WOMEN WILL HAVE AN ABORTION WHEN IT IS RESTRICTED source: https://www.who.int/ health-topics/abortion#tab=tab_1
“ Banning Abortion: A blatant
infringement on women’s rights by Isabel Foley, staff writer Abortion has always been a controversial subject. It has come into the light for Montana as of January when the Montana House of Representatives passed a series of bills limiting women’s rights to abortion. All are now heading to the governor’s desk, and -- if signed -- will appear on ballots in the next election. This is honestly disheartening. Abortion should be a legal, an available option for everyone. Just because someone may not want to get an abortion does not mean that they should prohibit someone else from doing so. The most prominent argument I have heard against abortion is that it goes against what their religion dictates. America was founded on freedom of religion; this does not mean that one person’s religion or even the majority of the population’s religion should dictate any law. Simply because it is someone’s belief system does not mean that everyone believes the same. While it is a valid choice to not have an abortion, it is also a valid option to have one. Other people may argue that if one does not want kids they can simply give them up for adoption. Our adoption system is already broken. Pumping more kids into it will not fix it. Moreover,
if someone does not want to go through pregnancy then they should not be forced to grow a human being inside of them if they do not want to. It is no one’s choice but their own. Once the child is born, the people who want to limit abortion do not care at all what happens to the kid. This leads me to believe that they simply wish to control women. One of these bills is a perfect example of this; HB 140 would force a woman to view an ultrasound and hear the fetus’ heartbeat before having an abortion. This is fear mongering and guilt tripping. It is absolutely not medically necessary in any respect. This is just another method of attempted control. If abortions are banned or restricted then people will simply turn to unsafe methods of abortion, which will only lead to death of the mother, or other possible implications. Banning abortions will not make abortions go away. Instead it will result in an enormous step back in women’s health rights. That is the complete opposite of what women need. Society should strive for everyone to have complete control over their health choices.
