Billings Gazette, Feb. 6, on the abortion fight's effect on other health care issues:

Montanans — and all Americans — should be concerned anytime a lawmaker tries to tell your doctor what to do.

Most politicians aren't doctors, so they should leave medical care up to the experts.

That's why we continue to support the right for women to make their own choice about their bodies and birth control. Freedom of choice is foundational to our American experience.

However, we are also concerned that by focusing on one procedure, abortion, it distracts from other more important topics facing women, health care and birth control.

We find the practice disconcerting, and believe it should be a means of last resort in birth control. In truth, statistics show that the number of abortions has decreased steadily and it's not the cheapest option for birth control.

While we applaud the Montana American Civil Liberties Union for tackling the legal issue of whether the state can limit the medical providers who provide abortion, we also worry that the constant focus on abortion detracts from other more pressing aspects in Montana.

The ACLU may indeed argue that its current legal challenge has less to do with abortions and more to do with a state interfering with medical care from a provider. We understand that argument, and we are concerned anytime Helena tries to get between a doctor and a patient.

However, because of the politically charged issue of abortion, it plays an oversized role in politics. It's a key wedge issue, when the reality is that it affects a small portion of Montana. In 2014, the latest statistics available, there were less than 1,700 abortions performed. Experts said the number of Montana residents who received abortions were probably less because some women may have traveled to the state to have the procedure performed here.

Still, the statistics are small, but the issue looms large in politics as conservatives continue to rally around it, though any number of issues affect more Montanans.

This distraction comes at the expense of a larger topic — women's health and birth control. Access to health care in Montana, especially in rural areas, is crucial. And, it's not just limited to birth control — it's all health care issues. Some counties have faced the possibility of not having a practicing doctor even living within their borders.

As Congress has begun to dismantle budgets and the Affordable Care Act, access to health clinics, especially those that provide health care for women and single mothers, remains in jeopardy. Moreover, as some employers claim a religious exemption from having to offer birth control as part of their prescription drug benefit, the issue of access and affordability become more pressing than abortion.

Granted, both of those issues are linked.

No one touts abortion as the best option for birth control. However, when women don't have access to health care or affordable birth control, abortion becomes an inevitable alternative to an unwanted pregnancy.

We would think if more conservative residents loathed abortion so much, they would be doing everything in their power to ensure that women had access to health care and affordable birth control.

As we continue to debate the federal budget, we cannot be so distracted by the fight over abortion that we lose sight of the tens of thousands of Montana women who get their health care through community clinics, or rely on affordable and accessible means of birth control.

We support the work the ACLU is doing because it's essential to make sure that Roe v. Wade is not overturned by a series of increasingly limiting legislative measures. However, we hope that as we fight this one, single issue, that we're not losing sight of a much larger issue in which we make women desperate because they don't have health care or affordable birth control.

Being anti-abortion has to also mean we care about the lives and health of the mothers, too.

Editorial: http://bit.ly/2C3DY6s

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Missoulian, Feb. 5, on how the University of Montana handled complaints about a coach:

Members of the University of Montana women's soccer team had concerns about Coach Mark Plakorus — concerns they shared with university officials.

Their complaints should have been taken more seriously. The allegations were troubling enough to warrant an immediate and thorough investigation, and the results of that investigation should have been provided to those who brought the matter to light in order to reassure them that the appropriate steps were being taken to resolve it.

Instead, officials took action only after finding some texts from Plakorus's university-issued phone to a Las Vegas escort service. And that action included allowing Plakorus to resign quietly, without owning up to the real reason he was fired.

Some players were rightly pained to learn last week that Plakorus was not going to be held accountable for the disturbing pattern of inappropriate behavior he has been accused of over the years, and that he would be free to quietly move on and possibly repeat that behavior in a new setting.

The soccer players and assistant coaches who spoke up about Plakorus deserved better. Those who spoke to the Missoulian noted that they went to officials reluctantly, not wanting to make an already difficult situation even more uncomfortable.

They did the right thing, and the University of Montana should take pains to emphasize this point. It's an opportunity for the university to send an important message to the entire campus community that such complaints will be heard and sexual harassment will not be tolerated.

Yet initially, the university was set on sticking to a version of events that had Plakorus voluntarily agreeing that "it was time for him to move on," as Athletic Director Kent Haslam put it. The Missoulian had to prod them into admitting the real reason.

UM President Seth Bodnar deserves all due credit for ensuring that this incident was not kept covered up. The Missoulian contacted Bodnar directly to urge that the university stand by its commitment to transparency, and last week, he showed that he gets why this commitment is so critical.

This came just days after the new president told students one of his top priorities is creating a safe environment for students. To do that, the university needs to be forthright about the real reasons teachers and coaches are abruptly removed from their jobs. Bodnar demonstrated that he understands covering up painful incidents only makes them worse, and that only by facing them head-on, and publicly, can the university show it has learned from the lessons of the past. It was a good first step for the new president. But it needs to be followed by many similar steps if UM truly wants to change its culture and mend its reputation. Anything less is mere lip service.

And that is why the initial handling of this incident is so deeply disappointing. Instead of applauding the more than a dozen soccer team members who spoke up for their role in uncovering Plakorus's text history, Haslam emphasized that the "climate survey" of the team played no role in the decision not to renew Plakorus's contract — essentially sending the message that their concerns didn't matter. Describing these complaints, which came from multiple people over a period of several years, as "circumstantial evidence" only added insult to injury.

To be clear, a group of players reported that their coach was texting them excessively and at inappropriate times. They told the Missoulian that he would regularly touch young women's legs or play with their hair. They said the 49-year-old Plakorus matched with women their age on the dating app Tinder, and that he would sometimes close the door when they were alone in his office, a violation of university policy.

Fittingly, the Title IX Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action was asked to help look into the matter, and team members were surveyed about their perceptions and experiences regarding sexual harassment and assault. However, the office did not initiate a formal investigation. And now that Plakorus has left, there will be no additional investigation. But that doesn't mean the university's work on this matter is done.

After stumbling initially, university officials did take the right steps toward a true resolution of this unhappy incident. The decision not to renew Plakorus's contract was clearly the right one. They should have been upfront about the reason why Plakorus was fired from the very beginning. They should have followed up with the team to ensure they felt their concerns were acknowledged.

They should not have had to be goaded into doing the right thing, but thanks to the dogged willingness of those who spoke up to keep talking about it, they eventually were.

And that's a message that bears repeating. When it comes to sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior of any kind, don't ever allow silence to sweep the truth away. Speak up. And keep speaking up.

Editorial: http://bit.ly/2E8sPqZ

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Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Feb. 4, on proposed updates to the state's tax policy:

A local think tank has produced a report that points out what should be painfully obvious to state lawmakers: Our tax policy is outdated and does not reflect changes in the state economy. An over-reliance on taxing fossil fuels contributed to a $227 million deficit that forced the Legislature to make some deep cuts to badly needed programs late last year.

"An over-reliance on resource taxes may be generating a gap between where the economy is generating value and where the state generates revenue," the report says.

According to the report, produced by Headwaters Economics for a legislative committee, Montana's economy is shifting away from non-service jobs in construction, manufacturing and natural resources and toward service-related jobs in health care and tourism.

The report's authors conclude that one remedy for the state's outdated tax system would be a general sales tax. But there simply isn't the political will for such a tax right now and probably won't be for the foreseeable future. But state lawmakers are going to have to find their way to a compromise on the issue or we will continue to suffer through budget cuts and an over-reliance on property taxpayers who are approaching their breaking point.

The state Legislature has stubbornly refused to allow cities to ask voters to impose tourism-taxes in places like Bozeman where tourists are spending millions of dollars that are barely taxed. Lawmakers apparently fear expanding tourism tax authority to larger cities will lead to what will essentially be a statewide sales tax. But perhaps those fears can be a allayed and a middle ground can be found with a strict limit on the tax — say 1.5 percent on goods and services tourists typically use — and a mandate that the revenue collected go toward property tax relief.

A glut in the fossil fuel markets and a global trend toward non-carbon-producing forms of alternative energy sources will mean a continued decline in taxes on those commodities. And with an estimated 60 percent of state income coming from the service sector and a mere 15 percent from non-services, we have to find a way to get more state government revenue from the service sector.

Montana's economy is changing and our tax policy needs to be changed to reflect that. And getting some revenue from the growing numbers of tourists coming to the state needs to be part of that.

Strictly limited, voter-approved local tourism taxes in tourism-heavy cities should be something a majority of legislators can get behind.

Editorial: http://bit.ly/2nOX4rP