South Dakota Doctors Group Says Abortion Ban Opponents Wrong to Use Name

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 29, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

South Dakota Doctors Group Says Abortion Ban Opponents Wrong to Use Name

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 29
, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The statewide organization that represents doctors in South Dakota says abortion advocates are wrong to use its name in their ads against the abortion ban that will appear on the ballot next Tuesday. The South Dakota State Medical Association was added to a list of groups supposedly opposing the ban.

The doctors group is now on the list of organizations asking the pro-abortion South Dakota Healthy Families group to cease and desist using their name in all of their ads and print pieces.

SDHF has been using these medical groups’ names without permission to further their goal of stopping the ban, which prohibits abortions except in very rare cases to save the life of the mother or in rape and incest.

In a memo to SDSMA members, leaders of the doctors group say: "Further, you should know that the SDSMA’s Executive Committee has responded to an unacceptable misrepresentation on this issue."

"On Thursday of last week, SDSMA’s legal counsel wrote a letter to the Campaign for Healthy Families to demand that they discontinue their television ads that misrepresent the SDSMA," the memo added. "We notified statewide media of this fact on Friday (October 24). We expect compliance."

The pro-abortion group also used the name of Avera Hospital in its materials against the ban, but the hospital told Vote Yes for Life, the group behind the measure, that it supports it.

The hospital indicated it is in alignment with the Catholic Bishops in South Dakota, both of whom strongly support Measure 11 and are encouraging people to vote yes on the ban.

"We are not surprised that the pro-abortion activists used these medical groups to further their political agenda," Brandi Gruis, a VoteYesForLife.com spokesperson, told LifeNews.com.

The pro-life group says the pro-abortion group did not have permission to exploit these institutions. The SDSMA and the hospital have subsequently asked for the group to stop using their name immediately.

"This is par for the course of how this group has been running their campaign. We are happy to see that these medical organizations are working to correct the record, in time for voters to know the truth," Gruis concluded.

Related web sites:
Vote Yes for Life – https://www.VoteYesForLife.com

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