When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to overturn the misguided acts of a state legislature and dissolve laws that have been written to impede freedom and curtail liberty, nothing does the trick like a people’s veto petition drive.

I’m sure even Declaration of Independence author extraordinaire Thomas Jefferson would agree that Maine’s Democrat-controlled Legislature went too far in the session just ended by unilaterally ramming through laws that divide the electorate and do social harm.

John Balentine

John Balentine, a former managing editor for the Lakes Region Weekly, lives in Windham.

I’m sure, also, that our third president, who famously wrote “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical,” would approve of the many efforts underway by Mainers targeting some of the more outrageous bills enacted by lawmakers.

Augusta Swamp Democrats have done critical damage to our civilization this past session, but several brave individuals and groups have stepped up to launch about a dozen people’s veto repeal efforts to right the ship. But they need your help – and signature – to be successful.

They need to collect 63,000-plus signatures by early August for each petition to qualify for the November ballot. That’s more than a half-million signatures. Yours should be among them. Hopefully you’ll find the petitions at a grocery store near you. But if not, go to the Maine secretary of state’s website and click on the “Citizens Initiatives & People’s Veto” tab to find a list of petition sponsors and their contact information.

I admire these signature seekers. It’s tough to attempt such a thing in the middle of a lazy, hazy, crazy summer – and without the aid of Election Day, where registered voters conveniently come to you. This shows the passion that’s out there to stop bad legislation before it becomes embedded law.

You’ll be familiar with the bills being targeted. The “Death with Dignity” bill, which is a politically correct euphemism for physician-assisted suicide, is one. So is the law that does away with the religious and philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccinations.

Another drive in petitioners’ crosshairs targets the law banning conversion therapy. This bill always puzzled me because I thought the freedom of speech allowed Americans to talk to anyone about anything, including homosexuality. It seems a wee bit odd and overbearing on Democrats’ part to ban the freedom of speech regarding this one topic.

Also subject to a repeal effort is the law requiring state taxpayers to cover the cost of abortion for women enrolled in Medicaid. Another repeal effort would overturn the law allowing non-physicians to perform abortions. Why Democrats are targeting poor women’s babies, euthanasia and slackening standards for abortion providers makes me wonder why the death-embracing Democrats want to make it easier to rid the world of unwanted people.

There are other petition drives underway, but these are the most important since they are literally matters of life and death. The Democrats have embraced causes that are anti-life, and voters, through these petition drives, have a chance to reverse the curse.

It’s sad how bullheaded Democrats have forced their constituents to react like this. I don’t remember the last time so many people’s veto efforts have been undertaken by an infuriated populace.

I’m not a fan of citizen petitions and repeal efforts, either. As a fan of republics, not pure democracies, I feel elected representatives are better informed to properly govern. But, as Jefferson conceded, when our representatives go off the rails, the represented need to rise up.