Missoula GOP state Senate candidate: Women’s womb ‘serves no specific purpose to her life or well-being’

(KPAX) A former Montana State House Majority Leader and candidate for a potential swing Montana state Senate race said in an email to fellow legislators Monday that a woman’s womb serves no specific purpose to her life or well-being.

The comment was made by Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, who is running for Senate District 49, which Democrats won by a narrow margin in the last two elections.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, Montana Democratic lawmakers have said in order to prevent a ban on abortion in Montana, voters can’t allow Republicans to gain two seats, resulting in a super majority, in the state legislature.

With a super majority, Republicans would have the power to put constitutional changes on the ballot, which could include amendments to restrict abortion.

The race for Missoula’s Senate District 49 is expected to attract a lot of money from both sides, said Scott McNeil, director of the Montana Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. A month into the general election and both candidates have already raised tens of thousands of dollars.

Tschida made his comment in an email to dozens of lawmakers in response to a member of the public from Columbia Falls who voiced opposition to abortion restrictions in Montana.

“The womb is the only organ in a woman’s body that serves no specific purpose to her life or well-being,” Tschida said. “It is truly a sanctuary.”

Tschida’s opponent, Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula, represents House District 98, one of the two house seats in Senate District 49. Tschida represents the other, House District 97.

In an interview with MTN News Monday, Curdy called Tschida’s comments “creepy” and “ludicrous.”

“He is stepping into a place where he’s telling women their bodies don’t count,” Curdy said. “Or parts of their body don’t count.”

Curdy’s characterization of the comment was an exaggeration and isn't accurate, Tschida told MTN News.

The statement is that the womb doesn’t serve a specific purpose to the well-being of that woman, the womb is a sanctuary, Tschida repeated.

“I’m not going to apologize for saying that,” Tschida said. “I think that’s exactly what it’s there for. It welcomes in a new life and that’s what it’s there to do, to nurture and sustain that life.”