Politics: The Sleepers

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ABORTION
A Hard Line on the Plains

Tiffany Campbell had a serious problem. The ultrasound showed her 15-week-old embryos had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, an often fatal complication. Campbell, who lives in South Dakota, was rushed to Cincinnati, where she underwent a procedure that aborted one fetus in order to save the other. On the way home, says Campbell, she and her husband talked about a new South Dakota law that bans all abortions, except to save the life of the mother. "I'm not really for abortion," says Campbell, 30, still pregnant with the surviving twin. "But then you realize it's not all black and white."

Opponents of South Dakota's abortion ban hope such stories will persuade voters to overturn the law on Election Day next week. Pro-life forces see South Dakota as the beachhead of a new campaign to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that established abortion rights. Pro-choice advocates say that defeating the measure will send a signal to the 14 other states considering abortion bans, including cases involving rape and incest, to abandon their efforts.

The law was driven by Leslee Unruh, a Sioux Falls activist who shared with lawmakers her regret over her own abortion. "I bought the feminist line 'It's my body'," said Unruh. Polls show opponents of the ban with a slight lead. Last week the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, a grass-roots organization opposed to the ban, signed up a new volunteer: Tiffany Campbell. "As long as I'm on bed rest, I've got plenty of time to stuff envelopes," she says. For Campbell, a registered Republican, this is her first political campaign.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15463760/site/newsweek/?page=4

part of this article in Newsweek
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15463760/site/newsweek/