Abortion law puts S. Dakota GOP on spot

Abortion law puts S. Dakota GOP on spot
May 4, 2006, 23:18 GMT

PIERRE, SD, United States (UPI) -- South Dakota`s tough new abortion law has created problems for the state`s dominant Republican Party, Stateline.org reported.

The governor`s office, all 35 state Senate seats and 70 House seats are in play in this year`s elections, and a majority of South Dakotans oppose the law, which only allows abortion to save the life of a mother.

Some Republicans who voted for the law are facing primary challenges from other Republicans, Stateline.org reported -- and Republican Gov. Mike Rounds has lost 20 points on his approval rating since signing the bill.

Planned Parenthood is ready to file suit in federal court to overturn the law, and the tribal president of the Oglala Sioux Indian Nation in South Dakota -- territory that would be immune from the state law -- has vowed to build an abortion clinic in his territory that would be open to all the state`s women.
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http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1161060.php/Abortion_law_puts_S._Dakota_GOP_on_spot



Gov. Mike Rounds

beg to live on reservations.

this battle. They just want to lead so-called social conservatives along for as long as they can con them.

This is why the U.S. Supreme Court will always need just one more "conservative" justice. While they stack the court with pro-big biz/anti-little guy justices.

If the RW wanted to get rid of abortion, they would have done it by now.

They don't ever intend to.

It's too valuable as a wedge issue, and it's red meat for their faithful.

...that Ms. Fire Thunder is a woman.

It's just a feeling that comes over me in Cassandra mode.

I'm sure that the repubs are really hoping that this issue gets to the SD voters and is voted down. The last thing the repubs want is a "true" battle over abortion to be playing out during an election year.

For a couple of reasons really. First, this issue will stir up the pro-choice swing vote who has never really had to confront this issue in a real way during an election. Second, if the issue gets to the SC and Roberts and Alito vote to uphold Roe, the Religious Far Right groups will (and I'm just guessing) secede from the Repubs and form their own party. While this party will never play in a real way on the national level, it will win local and maybe even some state elections, positions most likely held by Repubs.

I may be over-reaching a bit, but if Bush's SC picks ended up not doing the one thing that he has privately promised the RR that they would do, I don't think the religious groups would have any reason to continue to support the current Repubs.

:thumbsup:

The South Dakota law is an aberration, and that is why it is failing. The usual method of eliminating choice is two-fold: restrictions without outright bans, and harassing clinics into closing so that there are none easily available.

The people who truly have the courage of their convictions on this issue are a small minority of whole anti-choice movement. They are the ones who believe that God hates America because of abortion. The large majority of the movement are people whose primary motivation is control of women, who are threatened by the idea that women don't automatically give birth once the man has had his say. They see a female veto on her pregnancy as emasculating. However, most of them don't want to see women hurt or dead.

The GOP will go back to proclaiming that only men can be trusted make sure a woman gives birth and outright aggression. The majority will be lulled back to complaceny, and the minority will be incensed by their failure to impose a total ban, and continue their harrassment and fight for restrictions.

it's availability of the procedure at all levels. One of their most insidious tactics is to work on medical schools so that only a handful still even teach the procedure to prospective OB/GYNs. The numbers of physicians trained in the procedure drops every year.

However, once we go to non-surgical abortion, that becomes moot. But they're attacking access at all levels. That's why "pharmacist ethics" is the new meme - they're trying to make sure pharmacies don't supply either emergency contraception or RU-486. Then they'll go after contraception itself.

The best way to make sure women remain second-class citizens is to prevent them controlling their fertility. The ultimate goal of the forced birth movement - and some will even openly admit this! - is a ban on all contraception, including barrier methods.