S. Dakota Goes After Choice (Again)

S. Dakota Goes After Choice (Again)

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Last week, I wrote about a draconian, anti-choice initiative in Colorado that threatens to criminalize abortion, curtail stem-cell research, and deprive women of access to legal contraception. Meanwhile, in South Dakota, long the epicenter of efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, for the second time since 2006, voters are being asked to outlaw almost all abortions in the state.

This time around abortion opponents are trying to sell their ‘new and improved’ initiative as 2006-abortion-ban-light but the new initiative would entail a sweeping ban on abortion that is just as thorough as the 2006 law that South Dakota voters widely rejected.

A group called Vote Yes for Life is pushing the new version of the bill — Measure 11 despite the fact that South Dakota is already among the most difficult states for women to access abortions. (The climate is so hostile that Planned Parenthood flies in doctors from Minnesota once a week because no South Dakota doctor is willing to perform elective abortions.) One of the Vote Yes’ leaders is the Rev. Steve Hickey, who has said that he believes that South Dakota has been chosen by God to challenge Roe v. Wade.

This video, produced by the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, illuminates the consequences of passing Measure 11. Not only would the statute intentionally deprive the state’s women of a Constitutionally-protected right but the bill’s complicated and vague language would threaten the health and well-being of women and families across South Dakota.

There are many ways you can help defeat Measure 11.

Sign the Petition
Take a stand against Measure 11 by signing the Petition for Healthy Families.

Tell a Friend
Invite a friend to join the campaign.

Contribute
National anti-abortion extremists are gearing up in South Dakota. Help local activists fight back by making a donation now.

And for those of you in South Dakota, click here to find activities in-state and be sure to vote no on Measure 11 on November 4!

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x