Page 892 – Must Read Alaska

Dramatic photo shows Lowell Point landslide

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May 8, 2022

Dramatic photo shows Lowell Point landslide

An aerial photo by Chip Arnold of Alaska SeaLife Center shows the major landslide across Lowell Point Road, south of Seward, which brought down soil, boulders, rocks, and trees on Saturday evening. The Kenai Peninsula Borough has confirmed that no one was injured as a result of the landslide, which is estimated to be 200 feet high and 300 feet wide, covering the road that is on the western side of Resurrection Bay, which ends at a hamlet neighborhood.

The community of Lowell Point is assisting displaced visitors with temporary sheltering needs. Debris removal will begin once the area is stable for crews to safely respond. The Borough Office of Emergency Management is in contact with the community, the city of Seward and the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security to provide needed resources. The City of Seward has declared it an emergency and said it’s still unclear if the slope is stable enough to begin work.

It appears it will be several days before the road is reopened, and meanwhile residents of Lowell Point are using water taxi services. About 80 people live at Lowell Point, which is also home to the Lowell Point State Recreation Area and a couple of bed-and-breakfast establishments.

Dunleavy hops on helo and heads to Manley to survey flood, declares disaster as ice jams, waters rise

Dave Donley: Pandemic increased the burden on public schools already overwhelmed by mission drift

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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May 8, 2022

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Dave Donley: Pandemic increased the burden on public schools already overwhelmed by mission drift

By DAVE DONLEY

America’s founding fathers knew that our nation’s democratic-republic form of government requires educated citizens to be successful. I strongly support parental educational choice, but a strong successful public school system is also essential to maintaining an educated public and has been the foundation of America’s greatness.

I ran for the Anchorage School Board to do all I can to continue our American tradition of great public schools that is so necessary for our country, state, and community to succeed.

For two years public schools have been the front line in our community response to the Covid pandemic. Congress has sent close to $200 billion to schools to pay for their Covid-19 response. This has continued the trend of Americans asking our public schools to do more than they are typically funded or trained to do. Multiple bills before the Alaska Legislature this year proposed to add more duties to school districts. As the merits of these and other new proposals are considered it is important to reflect on the history of public education in America. Clearly, testing indicates Anchorage schools must do better for our students to ensure they can read, write, and do math.

Anchorage School District Deputy Commissioner Dr. Mark Stock has called the School Board’s attention to author and public-school advocate Jamie Vollmer’s analysis of the increasing burden on public schools.

Vollmer traces public schools in America back to 1640 when schools were established in Massachusetts to teach reading, writing, math and very importantly values that serve a democratic society.

Vollmer points out that the founders of these schools “assumed that families and churches bore the major responsibility for raising a child.” Schools had a limited role. Over time, science and geography became standard additional curriculum, but for almost 260 years the duties of public schools remained limited and focused.

As immigration increased at the beginning of the twentieth century, schools assumed an important role in the assimilation of immigrants. Public schools became responsible for social engineering of the citizens and workers of the new industrial age. Curriculum and duties began to expand greatly.

Vollmer lists these new school duties chronologically as including:

From 1900 to 1910:

• Nutrition

• Immunization

• Health (Activities in the health arena multiply every year.)

From 1910 to 1930:

• Physical education (including organized athletics)

• The Practical Arts/Domestic Science/Home economics (including sewing and cooking)

• Vocational education (including industrial and agricultural education)

• Mandated school transportation

In the 1940s:

• Business education (including typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping)

• Art and music

• Speech and drama

• Half-day kindergarten

• School lunch programs (We take this for granted today, but it was a huge step to shift to the schools the job of feeding America’s children one third of their daily meals.)

In the 1950s:

• Expanded science and math education

• Safety education

• Driver’s education

• Expanded music and art education

• Stronger foreign language requirements

• Sex education (Topics continue to escalate.)

In the 1960s:

• Advanced Placement programs

• Head Start

• Title I

• Adult education

• Consumer education (purchasing resources, rights and responsibilities)

• Career education (occupational options, entry level skill requirements)

• Peace, leisure, and recreation education [Loved those sixties.]

In the 1970s, the breakup of the American family accelerated, and we added:

• Drug and alcohol abuse education

• Parenting education (techniques and tools for healthy parenting)

• Behavior adjustment classes (including classroom and communication skills)

• Character education

• Special education (mandated by federal government)

• Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic programs for girls)

• Environmental education

• Women’s studies

• African-American heritage education

• School breakfast programs (Now some schools feed America’s children two-thirds of their daily meals through-out the school year and all summer. Sadly, these are the only decent meals some children receive.)

In the 1980s, schools added:

• Keyboarding and computer education

• Global education

• Multicultural/Ethnic education

• Nonsexist education

• English-as-a-second-language and bilingual education

• Teen pregnancy awareness

• Hispanic heritage education

• Early childhood education

• Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start

• Full-day kindergarten

• Preschool programs for children at risk

• After-school programs for children of working parents

• Alternative education in all its forms

• Stranger/danger education

• Antismoking education

• Sexual abuse prevention education

• Expanded health and psychological services

• Child abuse monitoring (a legal requirement for all teachers)

In the 1990s:

• Conflict resolution and peer mediation

• HIV/AIDS education

• CPR training

• Death education

• America 2000 initiatives (Republican)

• Inclusion

• Expanded computer and internet education

• Distance learning

• Tech Prep and School to Work programs

• Technical Adequacy

• Assessment

• Post-secondary enrollment options

• Concurrent enrollment options

• Goals 2000 initiatives (Democrat)

• Expanded Talented and Gifted opportunities

• At risk and dropout prevention

• Homeless education (including causes and effects on children)

• Gang education (urban centers)

• Service learning

• Bus safety, bicycle safety, gun safety, and water safety education

The first decade of the 21st Century:

• No Child Left Behind (Republican)

• Bully prevention

• Anti-harassment policies (gender, race, religion, or national origin)

• Expanded early childcare and wrap around programs

• Elevator and escalator safety instruction

• Body Mass Index evaluation (obesity monitoring)

• Organ donor education and awareness programs

• Personal financial literacy

• Entrepreneurial and innovation skills development

• Media literacy development

• Contextual learning skill development

• Health and wellness programs

• Race to the Top (Democrat)

The full list in poster form can be purchased from Vollmer, who can be invited to speak through his website, www.jamievollmer.com. Vollmer has a consulting service for school districts nationally. Vollmer explains this list does not include the addition of multiple, specialized topics within each of the traditional subjects. It also does not include the explosion of standardized testing and test prep activities, and new reporting requirements imposed by the federal government.

The vast majority of these requirements on schools are federal mandates and proposals have been put forth in Congress to allow more local control through block grant funding. However, in the second decade of the 21st Century the mandate trend has continued. School mandates have expanded to include increased preschool operations, more career-technical offerings, increased wi-fi in schools, more gender-inclusive facilities, more mental health services, and more IT support.

Some Anchorage schools now have on-site health clinics. Programs to support new immigrants and increase “equity” are being mandated by federal law. And new unfunded mandates continue to come from the State Legislature. Our public schools have become the front line in our community response to the Covid-19 pandemic; the past two summers Anchorage school cafeterias stayed open and provided thousands of free meals.

Vollmer points out that all this has been added to the responsibility of our schools “without adding a single minute to the school calendar in six decades” and that schools are now mandated to “not just teach children but raise them!” This is especially a problem in Alaska, where our state law provides for the shortest school year combined with the shortest minimum school day in the nation.

In a previous article, I explained how this state law combination results in our Alaskan students receiving possibly a year and a half less actual instruction time than students in some other states during their K–12 education. I believe this is part of the reason for the poor testing results of Alaskan students.

Anchorage class sizes have unfortunately grown as the ASD struggles with these ever-increasing duties, flat funding, and labor cost pressures. The School Board has prioritized the lower grades to keep teacher/student ratios in them lower, but they still are far above recommended sizes. It will be very difficult to maintain even the existing class sizes in coming years as federal Covid impact funds dry up. The 2023-24 school year budget is projected to have a $40 million shortfall, increasing in 2024-25 to almost $70 million. That is one of many reasons I voted against the expensive new teacher union contract this year.

In an effort to stay focused on education, the Anchorage School Board has adopted three top priorities including: reading proficiency; math proficiency; and college and life preparedness with regular progress reporting. The goal of this third priority is to work with parents to graduate good citizens prepared for life on their own. These priorities are consistent with the three original goals of schools in America. Importantly, the School Board is mandating the Superintendent to provide regular progress reports on meeting these goals.

Again, I fully support parental school choice to encourage competition in the education marketplace and give parents more options. The Anchorage School District has lost thousands of students to other educational options over the past five years. As our community deals with justifiable frustration with public schools, I hope we can have compassion for the people who keep schools running, and for the students they’re struggling to serve while constantly being asked to do more. Perhaps most important, we need policies constructed with a full understanding of the all-encompassing role schools have been asked to play in our society. I believe our goal should be to put students first and to do so we must fully consider the impacts of adding new duties to our schools.

Jamie Vollmer gave permission to include his writings in this article. His website is: [email protected].

This communication is from Dave Donley as an individual member of the Anchorage School Board and parent; and does not represent the position of the Anchorage School Board or the Anchorage School District. Dave Donley is a life-long resident of Anchorage, parent of teenage twins, attorney, and served as a State Representative and Senator for 16 years.

Running for Alaska Senate, Janice Lynn Park claims: ‘The unvaccinated are killing the rest of us’

Suzanne Downing

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May 8, 2022

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Running for Alaska Senate, Janice Lynn Park claims: ‘The unvaccinated are killing the rest of us’

Janice Lynn Park, a Democrat candidate for Senate Seat F, said on social media last week that people who are unvaccinated are “killing the rest of us.” She linked a Washington Post news story that noted that Covid deaths are no longer confined to the unvaccinated, and that the elderly still are being hit especially hard by the virus, even though they are the most vaccinated and boosted demographic in America.

The claim by Park, who is pictured at the top of this page with Democrat California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, represents a mainstream Democrat view that goes counter to what people are experiencing. A Celebrity ship docked in Seattle last week, with 100 percent of passengers and staff vaccinated for Covid, and yet hundreds of passengers tested positive for the virus. No one died, but many were inconvenienced by having to remain quarantined in hotels, even though they were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.

Park is among pro-vaccine politicians who are passing along what might be seen as misinformation on social media about the virus and the vaccine’s efficacy. On her campaign page, she has an entire section devoted to Covid, where she says that “pregnant people” have a 70 percent increased risk of death due to Covid, if they are symptomatic.

As of May 8, no other Democrat appears to have filed for Senate Seat F, which represents Abbott Loop and Lower Hillside in Anchorage. It’s a Senate seat that’s without an incumbent, now thati Sen. Josh Revak is running for U.S. House.

Alaska House Rep. Cal Schrage lives in the district and has indicated he’s considering it. The freshman lawmaker is an undeclared candidate who caucuses with the Democrats.

Newly recycled chair of AK Democrats: Mike Wenstrup

Suzanne Downing

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May 8, 2022

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Newly recycled chair of AK Democrats: Mike Wenstrup

The Alaska Democratic Party has elected a new chairman: Mike Wenstrup of Fairbanks. Wenstrup was the first vice chair for the party under Chairwoman Casey Steinau of Big Lake and he served previously as chairman from 2013-2016.

Wenstrup, originally from the Midwest, had a Fairbanks law practice specializing in criminal defense, workers’ compensation, and elder law. He was a public defender for those needing a court-appointed attorney.

In 2015, he closed his practice and joined NEA-Alaska (National Education Association) as a full-time union representative and organizer for 12,000 members in Alaska. He is past chair of the Interior Democrats. Wenstrup earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Democrats have been meeting in Seward over Mothers Day weekend at their convention, where they listened to speakers, gave awards, updated the party platform, and voted in officers.

Jim Crawford: Legislature nears end of session, and Alaskans still getting crumbs from the Permanent Fund

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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May 8, 2022

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Jim Crawford: Legislature nears end of session, and Alaskans still getting crumbs from the Permanent Fund

By JIM CRAWFORD

For another session, the Alaska Legislature has failed to write a fiscal plan for the State of Alaska. Time and time again, the two houses disagree and neither has the numbers to force the issue. What’s the cost? To Alaskans living through the worst inflation in decades, it’s steep. Thousands of dollars in unexpected and unjustified expenses are the result of federal, state, and local hyper-spending.

Those of us who served Alaska as members of the Investment Advisory Committee at the request of Gov. Jay Hammond worked out a system that complied with the governor’s demand for simple fairness. The dividend distribution first failed, but as the attorneys soon understood, Alaskans were both knowledgeable of the dividend issue and the availability of the funds to pay it. We went back to the drawing board and wrote the 50/50 approach to spending.

Our Legislature, particularly, those in the Senate, seem to find new ways to hide the money each year. The statutory formulae we came up with was earnings over a five-year period, minus inflation to keep the Fund whole from the ravages of inflation, then split 50/50. We did that knowing that those who wanted a 100% distribution from earnings and those that wanted 100% distribution through the capital or operating budget would not be fully satisfied. But we hoped they would see the compromise as fair. We required averaging over a five-year earnings period so as to put a stamp of conservative caution on the dividends. It was sustainable since it was based on earnings. It worked well for decades. Then Gov. Bill Walker refused to honor the deal.

Remember the hope and fun of guessing what the dividend would be? Remember when the sales by retailers would be splashed about demonstrating that every Alaskan had done well by the Permanent Fund. We had our investment fund and with few exceptions, the Fund made money each year.

Then, as is normal, the price of oil went in the tank and jealousy replaced fairness. Over the last few years, the mantra of the left was to get as much as it could from the Fund. I call the strategy “crumbs” since the liberals want to spend every dime it can while shorting the citizenry of their just earnings.

Last year, the liberals wanted “just $600 million” in new taxes and would then agree to pay the full dividend. With the war and inflation and the pandemic, the State of Alaska picked up another $3.4 billion instead but the “crumbs” theory still prevailed.

The conservatives know it’s the people’s money, not theirs. They are stewards of our wealth. The liberals, not so much.

Last year, the Alaska Permanent Fund earned $19.4 billion, according to the published financial statements. Did you get a dividend that reflected that increase in earnings? Even averaged over five years? Of course not. The Legislature uses a percentage of market value (POMV) to create the rationale for “crumbs.” Earnings no longer mattered.

On top of that, they tinkered with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAF), which have been the bedrock of accounting principles since I was a cub banker. The financial statements disclosure marks the difference at $11.4 billion in unrealized earnings of the Permanent Fund and cuts your dividend accordingly. It would be relatively easy to realize the earnings and raise the dividend accordingly.

Government should not be playing games with our money. We need a transparent and steady means of calculating our investment earnings and the dividend. With a projected budget surplus of $3.4 billion for this upcoming fiscal year, it’s time to show our legislators that we understand their game and have had enough. Partisanship doesn’t matter now. It’s time for Legislators to determine who writes the rules — the people or the special interests.

Keep an eye on the NEA’s demand to double its budget this fiscal year. Incredible. They want two years up front. It’s not because of the results delivered for our kids. The tests show that our third graders are failing at reading, writing, and arithmetic. The NEA and their lackeys want to double the education budget and to give the “crumbs” to the people.

If the Legislature can’t get the job done through regular and special sessions, it is time to admit that failure and convene the constitutional convention, which was anticipated in our original Constitution.

Our founding fathers and mothers decided that every 10 years, the people could amend the Alaska Constitution to keep it fair. Voting for the constitutional convention allows us to correct the excesses and lay out what we determined as fairness this year and the future.

The people deserve more than “crumbs” from the Legislature.

Jim Crawford is the former President of Permanent Fund Defenders, pfdak.com, an Alaska based educational nonprofit corporation based in Eagle River, Alaska. Jim is a third generation, lifelong Alaskan who co-chaired the Alaskans Just Say No campaign to stop the raid on the Permanent Fund in 1999. He also served Gov. Jay Hammond as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee, which formed the investment and corporate strategy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation in 1975.

Dunleavy hops on helo and heads to Manley to survey flood, declares disaster as ice jams, waters rise

Suzanne Downing

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May 7, 2022

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Dunleavy hops on helo and heads to Manley to survey flood, declares disaster as ice jams, waters rise

Gov. Mike Dunleavy was scheduled to be at a forum with three other Republican gubernatorial contestants on Saturday evening in Palmer, but instead was flying to Fairbanks to survey the Tanana River flooding in Manley Hot Springs, where 50-74 people who live in low-lying areas have been relocated to higher ground.

The governor declared a state disaster declaration for Manley and state and tribal officials are keeping a close eye on other river communities, such as Circle, as jammed ice poses a risk of further flooding. The declaration directs all State of Alaska agencies to respond to this event. The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is coordinating response efforts directly with Department of Public Safety and Tanana Chiefs Conference.

“We knew the potential for flooding this year was significant, and my Administration has been on alert and prepared to respond immediately to these events as they unfold,” Dunleavy said. “I want to thank Chairman Brian Ridley and the Tanana Chiefs Conference for their rapid response to the situation. TCC is working directly with the State EOC to ensure a coordinated effort to support the individuals and families impacted by this historic event.”

An emergency manager from the State EOC is deploying to the area tomorrow to assist in coordinating flood fighting, evacuation, and sheltering operations as necessary. In addition, Civil Air Patrol and National Weather Service conducted an overflight of the community today. The Alaska State Troopers also conducted aerial observations of the flooding.

The governor is also monitoring ice jam conditions along the Kuskokwim River near Crooked Creek, and the beginning of breakup on the upper Yukon River near Eagle and Circle. Should additional communities be impacted by ice jam flooding, the disaster declaration will be amended to support response and recovery operations.

The flooding in Manley is said to be the worst since the 1950s. The power is out in the community and nighttime temperatures will be in the 30s. Some people have been sheltered at the Manley Hot Springs Lodge.

Earlier Saturday, the National Weather Service had issued the flood warning.

“An ice jam has formed on the Tanana River downstream from Manley Hot Springs,” the agency wrote. “River observer in Manley Hot Springs reported significant flooding in Manley Hot Springs as water continues to rise along with ice flowing up through the slough. The observer reported that almost all roads in Manley are flooded and that several houses on the slough bank have water either in or surrounding them. Water is over the Elliott Highway across from the Manley Hot Springs bathhouse.”

The flood warning remains in effect until 6 pm Sunday.

Alaska’s Army teams set to be renamed 11th Airborne Division, as Army looks for ways to reduce suicide

Suzanne Downing

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May 7, 2022

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Alaska’s Army teams set to be renamed 11th Airborne Division, as Army looks for ways to reduce suicide

U.S. Army Alaska is in the process of designating the state’s Army teams as the 11th Airborne Division, the secretary of the Army told a Senate committee this week. The goal is to reduce troop suicide by giving the Alaska-based soldiers a more defined “sense of identity.” The change will take place this summer.

“One of the things we’ve found that we think is contributing to what we’ve found in Alaska is that some soldiers there don’t feel like they have a sense of identity or purpose around why they’re stationed there,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. She also said every soldier in Alaska will receive mental health evaluations from a surge in mental health professionals that she is sending to the state for a six-month period.

Wormuth said that Covid has contributed to the problem of mental health stress by increasing isolation in what is already a challenging environment.

The new 11th Airborne Division would become the Army’s second paratrooper division, combining the 1st Brigade Combat Team at Ft. Wainwright and the 4th Brigade Combat Team at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and those would also be redesignated as the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams under the new division.

Suicide among Alaska-based soldiers has been on the rise. Seven soldiers died by suicide in Alaska in 2020, and 11 took their lives in 2021 — with another six soldier deaths still being investigated as possible suicides.

Wormuth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Army is “trying to surge a significant quantity of behavioral health providers” to Alaska, including more chaplains and personnel from the Military and Family Life Counseling Program.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, who serves on the committee, called it an “historic development” that “presents a dual opportunity—renewing the spirit and purpose of our Alaska-based soldiers by connecting them with this division’s proud and storied history, and better fulfilling America’s role as an Arctic nation. We can’t forget, this development would not have been possible had we lost the 4-25 back in 2015 when the Obama administration was enacting draconian cuts to our Armed Forces. I’m glad to have worked with so many Alaskans, who love and support our military, to preserve our Alaska-based soldiers who help secure America’s interests in the Arctic and Asia-Pacific, and to witness this exciting future for our Arctic warriors.”

“We are going to be a division once again, unlike any other division in the Army — with a unique mission and purpose,” said Maj. Gen Brian Eifler, commander of U.S. Army Alaska. “We’ll align, all of us under one patch, one unit, one identity.”

Soldiers in Alaska currently wear the patch of the Hawaii 25th Infantry Division, with a lightning bolt theme.

The proposed patch for the new 11th Airborne Division.

The 11th Airborne Division was activated in 1943, during World War II, fighting in Italy and in the Pacific. It was deactivated in 1958 during the Cold War, and briefly reactivated in the 1960s.

Rep. Kevin McCabe: The right to personhood has science and logic that applies from conception forward

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR

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May 7, 2022

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Rep. Kevin McCabe: The right to personhood has science and logic that applies from conception forward

By KEVIN MCCABE

“The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed. The legislature shall implement this section.” — Alaska Constitution.

The Alaska Constitution does not guarantee a single “person” the right to privacy; rather it guarantees the People, in aggregate, the right to privacy. It also says, “The legislature shall implement this section.”

In Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart asked pro-abortion attorney Sarah Weddington, “If it were established that an unborn fetus is a person within the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment, you would have an almost impossible case here, would you not?” Weddington replied, “I would have a very difficult case.” Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in the majority decision: “If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.”

One group of Americans exists for which being human is not enough to be protected by law and the right to privacy: Pre-born children.

If the pre-born child was legally defined as a person, abortion would be a violation of the 14th Amendment:

“….No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

In United States v. Cruikshank, justices wrote: “The rights of life and personal liberty are natural rights of man. ‘To secure these rights,’ says the Declaration of Independence, ‘governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ The very highest duty of the States, when they entered into the Union under the Constitution, was to protect all persons within their boundaries in the enjoyment of these ‘unalienable rights with which they were endowed by their Creator.’ Sovereignty, for this purpose, rests alone with the States.”

Every person’s right to life must be protected by the State regardless of age, level of dependency, citizenship, or viability. The right to life is a natural right granted by the Creator and therefore unable to be alienated by laws of the state.

That this right is to be protected for “the people” within the state of Alaska indicates protection must not be denied to any human — even the pre-born.

Likewise, it would be unlawful to have a viability test to determine whether a person’s life is worthy of protection. The Alaska Constitution says every human’s right to life is to be protected, without exception.

In Gonzales v. Carhart, the Supreme Court wrote the unborn child is a living individual, separate and distinct from the mother. In this 2007 decision, the Court did not consider the preborn child as merely a part of the mother’s body.

In Bonbrest v. Kotz, Justice McGuire stated: “From the viewpoint of the civil law and the law of property, a child en ventre sa mere is not only regarded as human being, but as such from the moment of conception—which it is in fact.”

“En ventre sa mere” means “in the mother’s womb,” and is usually used while referring to that child’s rights.

In the Supreme Court case, Marbury vs. Madison, the court wrote: “The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury… The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right.” That decision cemented the individuality of the pre-born child and guarantees him or her a civil right to claim protection under the law; this includes the right to privacy found in the Alaska Constitution.

In Reed v. Reed, the justices wrote: “The Equal Protection Clause of that amendment [referring to the 14^th amendment] does, however, deny to states the power to legislate that different treatment be accorded to persons placed by a statute into different classes on the basis of criteria wholly unrelated to the objective of that statute. A classification must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike.”

Under the Constitution, the State doesn’t have authority to deny protection to a single class of individuals, such as preborn children. However, the Alaska Constitution and Alaska statutes grant full protection of the law to all children except those who are aborted. According to Reed v. Reed, this exception is a violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The medical community has long recognized the individual life of the unborn child. The science and experiments of Dr. Theodric Romeyn Beck, found in “Elements of Medical Jurisprudence,” written more than 100 years before Roe v. Wade, illustrate that the pre-born child is a separate human life from the moment of conception.

Scientist Keith Moore wrote, “[The Zygote] results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being. Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm … unites with a female gamete or oocyte … to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”(Moore, K.L., Ph.d. & T.V.N., The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 1998).

Dr. Horatio R. Storer wrote, “Allowing, then, as must be done, that the ovum does not originate in the uterus; that for a time, however slight, during its passage through the Fallopian tube, its connection with the mother is wholly broken; that its subsequent history after impregnation is one merely of development, its attachment merely for nutrition and shelter – it is not rational to suppose that its total independence, thus once established, becomes again merged into total identity, however temporary.” (Storer, M.D., LL.B., Horatio R., Criminal Abortion, 1868).

Storer’s conclusion is irrefutable: The life of the unborn human begins independent of the mother’s body. Follow the science, it is illogical to conclude that the life of the pre-born human being (which was previously independent of the mother) ceases to exist during the time that he/she is in the womb. In other words, the egg, and the sperm, which are now subdividing are an independent life and do not terminate just because they have attached to the mother for nurturing and support.

When a male sperm meets a female egg, both cease to exist independently, replaced by a living human in the earliest stage of development: conception. This life has separate DNA and is separate from the mother. Every major medical textbook on the subject teaches this.

Strengthening the scientific argument is the practice of in-vitro fertilization, in which a living human being is inserted into the womb for the support of development of the child, rather than for the purpose of obtaining life.

The independent life of the pre-born child is again proven by the fact the pre-born child initiates implantation into the womb. “The mother’s body is entirely passive in the implantation process. It merely responds to the actions taken by the unborn human being.” (Schauf, M.D., Adam, The Growth of the Placenta, American Gynecology, 1903).

Recent scientific and medical implantation of pre-born, and subsequent birth of children, who developed outside their biological mother’s womb, legitimizes the claim that the pre-born are independent lives. If being pregnant was only a function of the woman’s reproduction organs, then implanting, carrying to term, and successful birth would be impossible outside of the womb. That we can do this in surrogates demonstrates that the pre-born child is not just a product of the woman’s reproductive system, but is an independent, living human.

There is no such thing as “dark.” You cannot flip a switch and have dark. Instead, we flip a switch and have light; Dark is the absence of light.

Life is defined as the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter. We know that “life” includes the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change.

Much like “dark,” death is defined in many dictionaries as the absence of life. A fetus who dies in the womb, via a miscarriage or other means, would have to have been recognized to be alive, or a living person or human being, before it can actually “die” in the womb.

Finally, our Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Throughout the years, courts have set precedence that the word “men,” includes all of humanity: people of color, all races and nationalities, as well as both genders.

Isn’t it time we define “persons” for the purpose of our Constitution? It is time to follow the science, open our eyes and hearts and recognize the personhood of the pre-born. It is time to fix our Constitution and statutes.

Rep. Kevin McCabe serves in the House of Representatives for Big Lake.

Governor candidates forum in valley

Suzanne Downing

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May 7, 2022

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The Mat Su Republican Women’s Club holds a fundraiser and gubernatorial candidates forum on Saturday at the Palmer Train Depot in Palmer. Tickets are available at www.MSRWCtix.com, cost $35. Doors open at 5 pm. (The event may sell out and there may not be tickets available at the door.)

Dramatic photo shows Lowell Point landslide

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