South Dakota Abortion Ban Soon to be Target of Television Commercials 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 15, 2006
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — When abortion advocates decided to take the South Dakota abortion ban to the polls in an attempt to defeat it, everyone expected to see a barrage of television ads this fall with both sides of the abortion debate going at it. That hasn’t happened, but the pro-abortion group targeting the ban plans to go on the air soon.
Jan Nicolay, the head of the pro-abortion South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families says her group’s ads will begin in a matter of days.
"Sometime next week maybe. We’re not sure," she told the Associated Press.
Nicolay indicated the ads will be helpful because her group isn’t as well organized as that of pro-life advocates.
"We’ve been trying to really work hard on the grass roots. We just need to identify people on our side," Nicolay told AP. She said it’s difficult to compete with pro-life groups, which have been organizing for decades.
She also indicated that fundraising has been more difficult than expected though she claims the plan was always to air television commercials later in the political season than most people expected.
Meanwhile, Leslee Unruh, the head of the pro-life group dedication to supporting the ban at the polls, is not ready to reveal her organization’s campaign strategy or when it will begin airing television ads. The group has been holding numerous grassroots rallies supporting the ban where hundreds of state residents have gathered.
"When the time is right for our strategy, you’ll see it," Unruh told AP. "Our strategy is on target, and we have a good one."
"We’re running a grassroots campaign right now. It’s been a huge success," Unruh added. "We’re on the ground first."
A July poll found 47 percent of voters oppose the ban, 39 percent favor it and 14 percent are undecided.
The survey also asked voters how they would vote if the ban had included rape and incest exceptions.
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. Because of that, Unruh’s group has been trying to educate state voters that a provision in the abortion ban would provide the morning after pill to women who are raped or victims of incest.
Related web sites:
Vote Yes for Life – https://www.VoteYesforLife.com
