"It's obvious that Planned Parenthood doesn't understand South Dakotans," said American Life League president Judie Brown. "Planned Parenthood's involvement in an attempt to overturn the state's new abortion law flies in the face of South Dakota values. The South Dakotans I know utterly despise the public advocacy of killing preborn babies and will not stand for this."
The Planned Parenthood affiliate that serves Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota is part of a coalition that has launched a petition campaign in an attempt to second-guess the South Dakota legislature, which recently passed a law that bans abortion.
"The people of South Dakota elect public officials with one important quality in mind: honesty," said Mrs. Brown. "I can recall a visit to South Dakota a few years ago, during which my host made one thing perfectly clear. 'We understand that abortion is murder,' he said. 'Talk to us about what we can do about it.' Now South Dakota is doing something about it. Through their bullying tactics, Planned Parenthood and the other death peddlers working against this law are trying to thwart the will of the people. I'm confident that South Dakotans will not be bullied."
The coalition of which Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota is a member calls itself the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. "What can abortion possibly have to do with 'healthy families'?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Abortion doesn't improve families in any fashion; it destroys them."
Mrs. Brown said the petition requirements are such that the abortion law may face a challenge in a public referendum this fall. "If that indeed comes to pass," she said, "it is my fervent prayer that South Dakotans will realize the gravity of the situation, and turn out at the polls to say 'no' to the killing of innocent children and 'yes' to life."
Release issued: 24 Mar 06