Commentary by David Bereit
Earlier this year, the South Dakota legislature made history by passing a law to protect children in the womb ? and their mothers ? by banning abortion. Inspired by South Dakota's leadership, other states started preparing similar life-saving laws, and a renewed sense of hope began to spread across America.
Now the South Dakota abortion ban is in serious trouble ? and your help is desperately needed.
Unless faithful believers throughout America provide an immediate ? and mighty ? outpouring of prayers, volunteer efforts, and financial support for the people of South Dakota, Planned Parenthood is poised to kill the ban, kill the hopes of similar bans in at least 12 other states, and kill over 250,000 innocent children at its abortion facilities across the country in the next 12 months.
In fact, at this very moment Planned Parenthood is unleashing an unprecedented $8 million "shock and awe" bombardment of South Dakota airwaves in an effort to crush the abortion ban and deal a devastating blow to pro-life legislators attempting to enact abortion bans around the country.
Planned Parenthood is putting it all on the line because it knows this isn't only about South Dakota. This pivotal battle has sweeping national implications that will determine the fate of the abortion industry, and the fate of millions of innocent children and their mothers in all 50 states.
Let me briefly explain why winning in South Dakota is so crucial, how Planned Parenthood is trying to defeat the ban, and what you can do to make a difference at this crucial time.
Why winning in South Dakota is so crucial
The South Dakota legislators did their homework before passing the courageous abortion ban, and their diligence has produced a law with the potential to directly confront ? and even overturn ? the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that imposed abortion on all 50 states, and resulted in the deaths of more than 47 million innocent children.
The abortion law came as the result of a year-long, comprehensive South Dakota task force report that studied the effects of abortion on America over the last 33 years. Every aspect of abortion was analyzed, and over 3,500 pages of scientific research were collected. Fifty-four national and international experts testified, and thousands of affidavits were collected from women who had been hurt by abortion. Both sides were given equal time and an equal number of expert witnesses.
At the conclusion of the research, the findings were condensed into a groundbreaking 72-page report.
The Task Force Report reached two overwhelming conclusions:
- Abortion terminates the life of a separate, distinct, living human being which can now be proven scientifically with DNA evidence and research in the field of molecular biology.
- Abortion hurts women , causing major physical, mental, emotional and spiritual consequences that can be devastating to their lives.
The evidence was so clear and compelling that two-thirds of the South Dakota legislature ? a broad, bipartisan majority ? passed the abortion ban. The evidence was so clear and compelling that South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed the ban into law. And the evidence was so clear and compelling that at least 12 other states began actively working to enact abortion bans similar to the one in South Dakota.
Government has a duty to protect its citizens, and the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that if new evidence comes forth to demonstrate the personhood of the child in the womb, or the negative affect abortion has on women, it would have to consider that evidence.
In fact, the Roe v. Wade decision clearly states, "If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed…"
The South Dakota task force report establishes and presents that evidence, in a clear and compelling way.
How Planned Parenthood is trying to defeat the ban
When the South Dakota abortion ban was passed, Planned Parenthood instantly realized that a legal challenge of the law could actually result in the reversal of the Roe decision, and shut down its $100 million-dollar-a-year abortion empire. That's why, instead of challenging the abortion ban in court, Planned Parenthood decided on a more radical ? and risky ? approach: forcing the law to a vote by the people of South Dakota.
The abortion chain flew workers into South Dakota from around the country to gather signatures on a petition to delay implementation of the law, and to force the issue onto a referendum ballot. Despite widespread claims of petition fraud and an ongoing investigation, abortion activists gathered enough signatures to put the law on the ballot for South Dakota voters to decide on November 7.
Scrambling to plan their next steps, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL, South Dakota congresswoman Stephanie Herseth, former Sen. Tom Daschle, and national political and media gurus gathered on a secret strategy conference call in August. They identified South Dakota as "ground zero" in the national abortion wars, but acknowledged that they had a major problem. They bluntly admitted that the people of South Dakota are overwhelmingly pro-life.
To combat this reality, Planned Parenthood and its allies immediately went to work planning a massive propaganda campaign to distort and demonize the ban in an effort to convince enough pro-life voters that the ban was "too extreme" in order to get them to vote against it.
Planned Parenthood knows it can't afford to lose in South Dakota, and the abortion chain has already raised millions of dollars around the country to fund their campaign. Now they are calling on abortion activists in all 50 states to hold fundraisers on the weekend of September 29 ? October 1 to raise millions more for their South Dakota war chest.
South Dakota needs your help today to protect its law
There is a question that each of us must answer at this pivotal moment in history: Will we simply stand on the sidelines and watch Planned Parenthood roll its war machine over the 775,933 people of South Dakota? Or will we stand with our brothers and sisters in South Dakota ? fellow Americans all ? and commit to help them win a decisive victory for all humanity?
The good people of South Dakota have put together a top-notch campaign team that is already working around the clock to combat Planned Parenthood's unrelenting onslaught, but they simply cannot win without the prayers and help of people in every other state right now.
Their greatest needs fall into three categories:
- Nationwide prayer. Believers are already beginning to fall on their knees, fervently asking God to protect every innocent child and mother from abortion, and asking that His will be done in South Dakota. Let's keep spreading the word until the entire Body of Christ has joined together in this prayer.
- Volunteers. Anyone who can get themselves to South Dakota will be able to jump right into the action and volunteer with the VoteYesForLife.com effort. Call their headquarters today at 605-271-3975 and find out how you can use your gifts and talents to help make history.
- Emergency financial support. In contrast to Planned Parenthood's $8 million war chest, media outlets in South Dakota recently reported that VoteYesForLife.com ? the group that formed to protect the abortion ban ? had less than $89,000 in their accounts. This is truly a David versus Goliath situation. Yes, these noble workers have truth and justice on their side, but they also have an enormous need for funds. Funds to print yard signs, brochures, and bumper stickers. Funds to set up computers and phone banks. Funds to pay for gas as they get people to the polls. And funds to run television, radio, and newspaper ads to set the record straight about the ban. South Dakota is one of the least expensive media markets in the nation, and a little bit of money goes a long way. (A 30-second spot on "Good Morning America" costs only $150. That's absolutely unheard of in most places around the country.) There is no limit to how much you can give, and you can make an instant impact by making your donation online at www.VoteYesForLife.com or by calling 605-271-3975. If you prefer, you can send a check made out to VoteYesForLife.com in the mail to: 600 N. Western Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104
If ever there was a time when Christians should join together to pray, volunteer and invest to protect every child in the womb, the time is now and the place is South Dakota.
That's why I'm praying each day for South Dakota. That's why I'm making sacrifices to send as much money as I can to South Dakota. And that's why I'm taking my family out to South Dakota to volunteer in the final days leading up to the November 7 election.
What happens in South Dakota will affect the future of America, and on November 8, I want to be sure I can wake up, look myself in the mirror, and know I did everything I could to make a difference. Won't you join me?
Release issued: 18 Sept 06