South Dakota Pro-Life Advocates Hold Church Event to Back Abortion Ban 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 5, 2006
Rapid City, SD (LifeNews.com) — Pro-life advocates in South Dakota are continuing their grassroots efforts to support an abortion ban that will appear on the ballot this November. To build more support for the Referred Law 6 initiative, the Vote Yes for Life group held a rally at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City.
Rep. Larry Rhoden, the state House majority leader, told hundreds of people in attendance that they shouldn’t oppose the abortion ban even though it doesn’t have exceptions for rape and incest.
He told those present that it doesn’t matter what circumstances lead to the life of an unborn baby, that life shouldn’t be taken as a result.
Dr. Donald Oliver, a respected Rapid City pediatrician and board member of the Vote Yes for Life Group, also spoke to the crowd, according to a Dakota Voice report.
He said that babies before birth are now receiving lifesaving surgeries and medical science has advanced to the point that we know more about the awesome development of the unborn child.
Oliver told the hundreds of people at the church that one of his patients, a 16 year-old girl, was raped and decided to keep her baby. He said the girl knew that her baby was as innocent as she was when she was victimized.
According to the Voice, Oliver said that if a 16-year-old can “get it right, so can the rest of South Dakota.”
“We urge women to seek complete and compassionate medical care, as well as justice" as opposed to abortion, Oliver said. He indicated an abortion can help shield the rapist from prosecution.
A July Mason-Dixon poll found 47 percent of voters oppose the ban, 39 percent favor it and 14 percent are undecided. However, when asked if they would support the ban if it had exceptions for rape and incest, the percentage of those backing it rose dramatically.
Under that scenario, 59 percent said they would vote for the ban, 29 percent would vote against the abortion ban and 12 percent were unsure how they would vote.
As a result, the discussion of how to help women victimized by rape and incest could affect whether voters ultimately approve it.
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research conducted the survey of 800 registered voters July 24-26 for KELO-TV and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper.
The ban, which only has an exception to save the life of the mother, is opposed by groups that back abortion but supported by women who have had abortions and regret their decision.
Abortion advocates decided to take the ban to the polls in an attempt to defeat it rather than immediately challenging it in court. If Planned Parenthood, which runs the only abortion business in the state in Sioux Falls, loses this November, it can still take the abortion ban to court and file a lawsuit seeking to prevent it from being enforced.
More events on the grassroots campaign are scheduled for September 10 in Bison, September 17 in Mobridge, and September 24 at the park pavilion in Aberdeen.
Related web sites:
Vote Yes for Life – https://voteyesforlife.com
