Abortion-ban foes launch petition drive

By Kevin Woster, Journal Staff Writer | Saturday, March 25, 2006

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The battle officially began Friday.

With a new name, new faces and a new sense of urgency, opponents of the near-total abortion ban approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Mike Rounds began their petition drive to refer the controversial law to a public vote in November.

South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, a statewide organization led by an unusually large group of 15 co-leaders, held news conferences Friday morning in Rapid City and Sioux Falls. Then, volunteers began collecting the 16,728 signatures they need by June 19 to block the law from taking effect and refer the issue to a vote.

Speakers at the Rapid City news conference at the Radisson Hotel said lawmakers voted themselves into an extremist position when they passed HB1215. The bill would ban abortions except when needed to save the pregnant woman’s life.

If allowed to become law, HB1215 would provide no help for women with “extremely high-risk pregnancies who would not be covered by this exemption unless death is imminent,” Dr. Marvin Buehner of Rapid City said.

Buehner, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, said he was not experienced in either politics or public referendums. But the extreme nature of the bill and its effect on women forced him to go public, he said.

“I’ve never been particularly active in South Dakota politics, until now. I had to speak up,” Buehner said.

Dr. Nancy Phipps of Rapid City said supporters of HB1215 profess to be pro-family but that this bill could harm families throughout the state by forcing some women to accept pregnancies they don’t want and aren’t prepared to carry to term.

“Usually, almost always, a woman will go think about it and come back and say that she really wants to have that baby,” Phipps said. “But they have a choice. And before (the right to an abortion was recognized), women felt burdened because they didn’t have a choice.”

Buehner and Phipps are among the co-leaders of South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. So is Morandi Hurst, a 17-year-old senior at Rapid City Central High School who will turn 18 during the campaign against HB1215.

“It’s very sad for me that my first vote will be on something that is this negative,” Hurst said. “At the same time, I am thrilled to have a chance to vote to protect my rights.”

Hurst said HB1215 could be especially harmful to South Dakota teenagers who are just discovering their own sexualities, often without sufficient sex-education instruction to help them make informed decisions. They also are more likely to be raped, which could lead to pregnancies that could not be terminated under the new law, she said.

“We as a state should be dedicated to reducing abortions, not turning teenagers and their doctors into criminals,” she said.

Hurst was the youngest member of the group of co-leaders, which includes four doctors, two nurses, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder, former State Attorney General Roger Tellinghuisen of Spearfish and state Sen. Stan Adelstein of Rapid City.

The main sponsor of HB1215, state Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, on Friday rejected the notion that the ban is outside the mainstream of South Dakota values. The bill was overwhelmingly approved by publicly elected legislators and signed by a publicly elected governor, Hunt said.

“On the basis of the fact that all of these elected officials have considered this legislation and supported this legislation, I think it’s a little strained to say this legislation is too far out,” Hunt said.

Hunt said it is a distortion of the bill to say it doesn’t leave rape victims any other option but to give birth to the children of their rapists. The bill allows women to use emergency contraception from the time of intercourse to the time a pregnancy could be detected, which Hunt said could be five to nine days.

Opponents of HB1215, including some doctors, say the period is closer to three to five days. Whatever the exact time frame, Hunt said women who are raped would have an option to prevent pregnancy.

Abortion-rights advocates say the trauma or complexities surrounding a rape might make it difficult for some women to take action immediately. Hunt rejects that argument.

“Certainly, when a woman is raped, she should be reporting to law enforcement,” he said. “That’s usually done in a day or two. If we’re not talking about a bona fide rape, we’re just talking about an excuse for the abortion industry.”

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com