Good afternoon District 27. A cornerstone of my campaign is to preserve South Dakota values. South Dakota has always promoted a culture of life from conception to natural death. In an earlier posting this year, I mentioned that South Dakota currently has the #1 birth rate in the nation at 68.6 live births per 1,000 population (1). It is a true testimony that South Dakotans across the state value the importance of family life. I couldn’t agree more. I am one of ten children and I am 100% Pro-Baby, Pro-Woman, and Pro-Life from womb to the tomb.
As we head into the fall campaign, you will be bombarded with ads from opposing sides on multiple initiated measures, referred laws, and proposed amendments to the South Dakota State Constitution. For those who may not know, Initiated Amendment G titled “An Initiated Amendment Establishing a Right to Abortion in the State Constitution” was put on the ballot for the fall general election by Dakotans for Health after submitting 55,000 signatures on May 1, 2024 (2).
Let’s be very clear, the Initiated Amendment G, was not a grassroots effort by a vast majority of South Dakotans despite the number of signatures gathered. This was initiated by out-of-state special interest groups led under the direction of Rick Weiland, chairman of Dakotans for Health. Dakotans for Health hired paid signature gatherers to go out and collect signatures to force this on the ballot. If it was truly a grassroots effort, then why didn’t any of the signature gatherers come to Bennett, Jackson, Oglala-Lakota County, or Eastern Pennington County? By and large, the signature gatherers went to South Dakota’s urban centers and college campuses to collect the necessary signatures to force it on the ballot and disenfranchised the rural voters who are aptly to vote NO on the proposed amendment.
Why is this Initiated Amendment bad for South Dakota? This proposed amendment if enshrined into our State Constitution will be worse than Roe v. Wade. Under Roe v. Wade, states were allowed to provide safeguards on how an abortion is carried out and allowed states to enact laws to prevent coerced abortions. The proposed amendment will deregulate the abortion industry in the state of South Dakota and will not allow rules to protect health and safety, including parents’ right to be involved in their teen daughter’s abortion, will be overridden. This proposed amendment allows for painful, late-term abortions of healthy, viable babies even throughout the 3rd trimester to birth. The deceptive language allows no limitations to what is classified as “physical health” which can include emotional, psychological, and familial factors. In other words, a fifteen-year-old with an unplanned pregnancy may not have the mental acuity to carry a baby to full term and therefore, be diagnosed with a “physical disability” and be used as the “scapegoat” to abort the child as opposed to providing the child up for adoption.
The language of the amendment was intentionally drafted to be vague to confuse the voter into thinking that this amendment is only valid for the first trimester. That is not true. Read the language for yourself (see photo below) and you determine if Initiated Amendment G allows abortions up to birth. It is quite clear that “Dakotans for Health” would like you to believe that abortion is the preferred birth control method when all other “Women’s Reproductive Health” options have failed. Moreover, the initiated amendment is counter-cultural to the values of most South Dakotans. Abortion impacts not one life, but three: the mother, the father, and the child within the womb. It is a proven fact that many mothers regret their abortion and suffer from long-term psychological and emotional consequences of an abortion. Of course, the Dakotans for Health won’t share that language in the proposed Initiated Amendment G because the voter ought not to know the long-term “side effects” of an abortion which there are many including loneliness and depression, anxiety attacks, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, low self-esteem, nightmares, infertility and more (3).
In closing, I would like to quote Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta who said, “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love one another but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” Saint Mother Teresa worked in the slums of Calcutta and saw many children abandoned. She and her Sisters of Charity loved them as if they were nurturing and loving Christ himself. I have done my part to properly form my conscience on this matter and will be voting “NO” on Initiated Amendment G. All Christians and people of goodwill are asked to form their conscience before voting on this amendment to the South Dakota State Constitution. Have you formed your conscience before voting on this amendment? God bless.
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