South Dakota Abortion Ban Battle Finances Released, Pro-Life Tour Announced 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 10, 2006
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — The first financial reports from groups on both sides of the debate about a state referendum on South Dakota’s abortion ban have come in and abortion advocates are already seeing out of state money pour in to reject the ban. Meanwhile, pro-life advocates have announced a statewide tour to rally support for it.
Reporters filed with the Secretary of State find that the pro-abortion South Dakota Campaign For Healthy Families had raised $116,000 through June 28.
Donations above $100 to the groups must be itemized and they must report where those donors live. Abortion advocates itemized some $40,658 in donations and the results show that 37 percent of the money in that category came from people or organizations outside South Dakota.
Planned Parenthood, which operates the only abortion business in the state, contributed $14,274 to the pro-abortion group.
The group established to support the abortion ban at the November polls, South Dakotans for 1215, has raised $88,095 so far. Of the itemized totals, about 77 percent came from South Dakota residents.
Jan Nicolay, a former state legislator and head of the pro-abortion group, told AP that her organization hasn’t yet put plans in place for the money its raised and that its fundraising efforts haven’t gone into high gear.
"We’re just going to start moving into that mode," Nicolay said. "First, we need to figure out what we’re going to do, what our plan is, to do the education component and so on. We haven’t put any numbers to it, and we really don’t have a good idea now."
Meanwhile, pro-life advocates have put together a statewide tour to rally support for Referred Law 6, as the abortion ban will appear on the ballot.
Leslee Unruh, who runs a national abstinence group and pregnancy center in Sioux Falls and is the campaign manager for South Dakotans for 1215, says she thinks state residents will support the abortion ban.
“The science shows that abortion hurts women and kills a living human life,” she said in a statement provided to LifeNews.com. “That is why the Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act was passed; why South Dakotans will vote yes on Referred Law 6.”
The campaign has scheduled stops in Mitchell, Watertown, Aberdeen, Pierre, and Rapid City this week. At each stop South Dakota residents can register to vote and give a donation to the group for the abortion ban.
South Dakota lawmakers approved the abortion ban earlier this year and it would prohibit abortions in all cases unless necessary to save the life of the mother. Planned Parenthood could have taken the ban to court, which is what pro-life advocates wanted to be able to challenge Roe v. Wade in courts, but it decided to beat it at the polls first.
Should voters uphold the abortion ban, Planned Parenthood could still file a lawsuit against it.
Related web sites:
South Dakotans for 1215 – https://www.VoteYesForLife.com
