SD legislature just can't leave it alone-new abortion bill introduced!

[liberalhistorian]

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Here we go again! After last November's defeat of the state's total abortion ban by TWELVE percent, things really quieted down and the legislature seemed to get the message. Oh, sure, you had your whiners constantly writing in to newspapers and calling shows, etc., and legislators who couldn't seem to let it go, but we really thought we weren't going to have to go through this shit again like we did for most of last year. Even the staunchest pro-life legislators were saying they'd probably give it a break for at least a year.

BUT.http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/01/30/news/top/news02.txt#blogcomments



Check out this link to today's Rapid City Journal article, advising that a new bill was set to be introduced today, the deadline for introducing bills for this legislative session. This time, it's gracious enough to include the exeptions it didn't have the last time, for rape, incest, or pregnant woman's health; many of the whiners and legislators believe that the bill would have passed had it included such exceptions and not been a total ban.

They are fully aware that this is unconstitutional and they are expecting a major federal court battle. What they want is for South Dakota to be the impetus for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I guess our state being known as the state having the lowest wages, in all fields, of all the states and having the least-funded educational system and the lowest-paid teachers in the country isn't enough for them. One of the sponsors of last year's bill, Roger Hunt, has said not to worry about the cost to the state of defending such litigation, as he has an "anonymous" donor willing to put up at least a million big ones to a defense fund.

This is a state that cannot even pay its teachers a living wage, that hasn't raised the minimum wage in forever, that has a horrendously unfair property tax system that puts the burden unfairly on lower-income property owners, etc. And THIS is what the goddamned legislature is concerned about and focused on?

The legislature only meets for two months out of the whole damned year, early January through early March. This state has a whole host of issues that desperately need to be addressed and dealt with, and yet the legislature just cannot be bothered to concern itself with the REAL problems facing its citizens and the state as a whole. Truly infuriating.

Check out the comments section, also, some are really hilarious. I especially like the one asking "what part of No don't you understand? The N or the O?" BTW, I'm hellbound liberal; I took that name from a wackjob who commented that "the communist, morally bankrupt, hellbound liberals will not win this time."

Mods-PLEASE don't move this to the abyss known as the South Dakota forum, as this has national implications and last year's abortion battle garnered national attention for several months.

[cynatnite]

1. I'm not surprised...

hopefully, we get some hardworking people in there to stop this horrific bill.

K&R!

[liberalhistorian]

17. That's just it, we had a long, nine-month battle last year

and it was really exhausting, it's going to be a bit more difficult to mobilize the necessary resources and energy this time. I'm sure there are many on the other side who aren't too happy about having to do this all over again so soon, either.

[cynatnite]

18. I know and some of us here at DU did what we could to help...

I sent out a bunch of emails on this. Will do so again. This is a fight we can't tire of. I'll be doing what I can on my end :)

[liberaldemocrat7]

19. Call the South Dakaota legislature and Governor Rounds: We will boycott South Dakota!

Call the South Dakota Legislature and Governor Rounds and tell them we will not travel to South Dakota and we will not buy any South Dakota products unless they stop the madness of reintroducing the abortion ban.

[liberalhistorian]

20. Rounds is such a milquetoast chickenshit

who'd probably rather walk the entire state barefoot in the dead of winter than deal with any of this again, so it'll be interesting indeed to see his public comments on this.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I just figgered out why SD is so hot on "pro-life."

They know nobody's gonna move there of their own free will, so their only chance to maintain any semblance of a state population is to breed their own.

[liberalhistorian]

4. Well, I don't know about that.

I moved here from Ohio 18 months ago, of my own free will, since I'd always wanted to live and work near the Black Hills, where we always vacationed. There's a lot that's good about this state. Unfortunately, there's shit like this to deal with, as well.

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Actually, I have a soft spot for South Dakota.

My father spent his first 13 years on a farm near Oacoma. I love the Black Hills. Substitute a logging theme for the mining theme, and the Rochford tavern is exactly like any number of northwoods Wisconsin joints of 50 years ago, before the moneyed classes arrived & all the locals fell all over themselves catering to them.

[liberalhistorian]

23. Did you ever live here

yourself, or was it just your father?

[Jackpine Radical]

24. No, I've only visited.

My father was born in 1897 and moved to WI with his family in 1910. He was, needless to say, relatively old when I was born. I heard SD stories all my life from him & his siblings. Stories from a time that is now a century ago.

[liberalhistorian]

25. And the thing is that, just like some other rural states,

there are some areas where things haven't really changed all that much from a century ago. That's both good and bad. A century ago, people in this state, again like other western states, were pretty much left the hell alone to do what they saw fit and what they believed best for themselves and their families, including in personal, private matters, and they didn't have to worry about too much interference. They were, in many ways, a lot more realistic and practical about certain things than a lot of people in such states nowadays. They surely would NOT have put up with any governmental meddling and interference in certain matters, no question.

And there's still a certain streak of that left in many people in this state and other western agricultural states as well. The conservatism of many people in this state is far more libertarian than fundie wingnut, that's largely why the abortion bill was defeated last fall. Even people who were anti-choice were uncomfortable with voting for it, because, while they were anti-choice for themselves and their families, they weren't all that comfortable making such decisions for others. This isn't necessarily true in ALL western states (Utah and Wyoming being possible exceptions), but it is true for the most part. Unfortunately, there are just enough wingnuts in the state and the legislature to cause this kind of constant trouble.

[SharonAnn]

7. I was born there and my mother couldn't wait to leave. I left with her.

However, Rose Kennedy held me in the Sioux Falls airport when I was a baby. The family was leaving from a pheasant hunting trip and Mom had me, 8 mos. old, luggage, tickets, etc. So Rose asked if she could help Mom by holding me while she dealt with checking the luggage, etc. She said she had a lot of experience with holding babies.

So, born in South Dakota, held there by Rose Kennedy, raised in Iowa, and now living in Tennessee.

My South Dakota cousins are all rabid "right-to-lifers". And anti-gay, etc. Sure glad I wasn't raised there.

[liberalhistorian]

15. I'm sorry, but I'd much rather live here than

in Tennessee, for sure! :evilgrin:

[liberaldemocrat7]

21. Do you mean Rose Kennedy, mother of Joseph, John, Ted?

Mother of one of our Presidents?

[msongs]

3. b b b b but you are home of all those rich credit card companies and all the

fabulous HIGH paying jobs they bring.....to people in India?

Msongs

come see me on youtube!

www.youtube.com/videos/msongs

[liberalhistorian]

6. The credit-card industry and its jobs, at least the ones

that aren't outsourced, are all based in Sioux Falls, in the extreme eastern part of the state, near the Iowa border. While it's been a boon for South Dakota, the jobs aren't all that great, not what was promised.

[SharonAnn]

9. They went to SD because it was the only state permitting such high interest rates.

It used to be called "usury" and there were laws against it in other states.

[liberalhistorian]

11. True enough, Bully Billy Janklow was the one

who got the state laws changed to encourage the industry to headquarter there, and bragged and boasted about it as well. Nothing like screwing over people to make you feel important, I guess. Thank God he's no longer the governor. Rounds may be a republican, but he's a lot more tolerable than Janklow.

[Erika]

5. GOP=Big government and anti-women

The GOP male government wants to declare the body of every American woman GOP property. They wish to force birth on the woman, rape or otherwise.

[liberalhistorian]

8. But one of the main sponsors is a Democratic

woman legislator, Mary Glenski, who, in the article, is quoted as saying that this bill would "protect pregnant women." Huh? There are several other democratic legislators who voted for it last year and who've signed onto it this year. Ironically, many of the dem legislators against it are men. My boyfriend and I happen to be friends with the rep from our area, since he works in our town and my SO was treasurer of his first campaign. He was really disgusted with the abortion bill last year.

[BlueJazz]

10. That does it...I'm gonna' just go up there and kick the whole state's Ass.

I used to have to drive through that Shit-hole all the time.

Other that Mount Rushmore and the Corn Palace the State should be banned from existence.

[liberalhistorian]

13. The hell with Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and the

in-progress Crazy Horse Mountain monument, along with Jewel Cave and Wind Cave (the second and fourth largest caves in the world, respectively) are the best things in the state. That, and its rich geological and paleontological history, and native american culture and history. The Corn Palace is just plain ridiculous and corny.

[BlueJazz]

16. Alright damnit....you got me ....I quit smoking (Cigarettes) a few days...

...ago and I HAVE to have a reason to kick somebody's ass.

Anyway...You are Right.

But it felt good at the time just to vent.

[MountainLaurel]

12. The hell you say!

:wow:

Guess it's a good thing I didn't throw away my "South Dakota: The Coathanger State" t-shirt in November.

[liberalhistorian]

26. Yes, it is, indeed, a good thing, and let's hope that

a lot of others kept theirs, as well! BTW, an interesting side note-the head of SD Right to Life doesn't even want this bill introduced at this time, saying the timing is wrong. HA! Too bad the legislators don't listen to anything but the sound of their own voices echoing through their very empty heads.

[paparush]

14. Can't we just let Bush** be President of South Dakota...

they make such a charming couple.

[liberalhistorian]

27. Actually, I think you'd be surprised at the

drastically lowered level of support for Bush here this past year, especially in the more liberal eastern part of the state, where Sioux Falls is. But even in the most conservative areas, his support has really fallen, for the most part. Of course, the wingnuts in the legislature still haven't gotten that message, obviously.