Whalen Goes Wingnut

Sibby is reporting that Bruce Whalen the Republican candidate for Congress will be joining a fringe anti-choice protest group to picket Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls on Friday. Whalen will be joining the fringe clinic protest group Bound4Life to picket Planned Parenthood.

Bound4Life protests clinics they call them "sieges" and has also protested demanding the Supreme Court change to their whims. This group is also calling for the eradication of Islam. The group also protested outside the nursing home during the Terri Schiavo mess.

Whalen has publicly placed himself with the lunatic fringe.
This is the same guy who's campaign put slanderous false information on Wikipedia about his opponent Stephanie Herseth. Whalen's campaign tried to start a false rumor involving Herseth being pregnant and her personal relationships. This was truly a political low, even for South Dakota politics.

South Dakota does not need someone who clearly has no respect for women, no personal morals and is catering to the lunatic fringe representing us in Congress.

More On The Abortion Push Polling And Who Is Behind It

Here is the deal on the new push-polling being conducted and how to stop them in their tracks.

The most important thing to know is this. The company conducting the polling is a member of CASRO. CASRO is a member group for market research and survey companies. As part of CASRO they are required to tell you who they are calling on behalf of.
If you receive one of these push poll surveys demand to know WHO they are doing the survey for.

Western Watts is doing the push polling. They are a well known push-polling company working for various Republican groups. They are frequently hired by the Tarrance Group to do push polling for various RNC politicians and groups.

Numbers calling from:
Western Wats 801-494-1992 or 801-437-3150

People doing the calling in case you want to contact them, maybe tell them what you think.
Western Watts company
http://www.westernwatts.com
01 East Timpanogos Parkway
Building M
Orem, UT 84097
Phone: 801.373.7735
Fax: 801.379.5073
Email: contact@westernwats.com

We also found this email address someone posted to get removed from their lists.
We suggest if you have not been called by these jerks yet to pre-emtively get yourself removed from their list and TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS TO EMAIL THEM AND DO THE SAME. optout@westernwats.com.
Or call them...801-373-7735 and ask to be removed before you are called.

To find the info we found do a Google search using Western Watts and the phone number they are calling from.
We came up with too many hits to list them all here. All of them were complaining of push polling from this group and their association with republican groups.

More Anti-Choice Push Polling Going On

We received this report. According to the submitter from Pierre, more push polling is now going on from another push-polling operation.

"Just wanted to alert everyone that there is another push-poll going on. It's being conducted by Western Wats 801-494-1992. I would suggest you not answer the phone if you see this number, unless you like having your blood pressure sky-rocket. I have had several of these distasteful calls, where it is obvious that they are not actually collecting information, but trying to mislead unknowledgable voters. This one was the worst. Outright lies and deception, limited choices for answering the questions, etc. One of the questions asked "Knowing that the Oglala Sioux are building a clinic where any woman will be able to attain an abortion on demand, does this make you more or less likely to support the bill?" I am mad at myself for staying on the line for the whole poll, but I really wanted to hear what they were saying to people. Just wanted to pass on the info."

Paycheck Or Not - Volunteers And Affiliations

Bob Ellis and Voteyesforlife.com do some more swirling in the toilet bowl trying to explain their way out of their current misinformation campaign exposure.

Its a very simple concept. He publicly announced he was blogging for the group. He has special permission and access to post content to the Voteyesforlife.com website. He clearly has involvement and is part of this group. Now that he has made some comments that exposed the lies the group were promoting he is trying to distance himself. Today's excuse is that he does not collect a paycheck so he's not part of the group. We are supposed to ignore his obvious and admitted involvement with the group.

People working for a campaign or even an activist group are usually largely volunteer. This does not make them associated, part of, or representatives of that group.

At least Bob is coming clean about the ban and that it HAS NO EXCEPTION FOR RAPE OR INCEST victims. Today he finally admits that the only thing available is emergency contraception and anyone with a brain knows that it is not an abortion therefore no exception in the ban. A rape victim can not get an abortion in South Dakota - its a very simple concept.
The people of South Dakota are not stupid, they can understand that volunteers are still working for a group and that contraception is not an abortion.

Just remember, next time someone from Voteyesforlife.com aka: voteyesforlies.com tries to tell you that the ban has exceptions for rape and incest, tell them they don't and that Bob Ellis told you so.

You can go here and see for yourself Bob's posts and association with voteyesforlife.com.

Pro Life Group Admits Ban Has No Rape Exception

SD Progressive has an interesting review of Voteyesforlife.com and their admission that the abortion ban does not have a rape or incest exception in it as they have earlier claimed.

They have tried to claim many things after the ban appeared to be largely unpopular in the state. They tried to claim that emergency contraception was now an abortion, it clearly is not.
They tried to claim that emergency contraception could be used up to 10 days past possible conception. This is totally false, the product manufacturer and the FDA both state the proper administration must happen within 72 hours.

Now Voteyesforlife.com is trying to blame rape and incest victims. This weeks response to the lack of exceptions in the abortion ban is to place blame on crime victims for not coming forward as fast as they think they should. Completely ignoring the personal feelings or needs of the crime victim they are now claiming that all rape or incest victims must come forward within 72 hours. Why? It is clearly not out of any compassion for the victim. It is so they (prolifers) can be provided with some evidence to satisfy THEM that the victim was indeed raped. But there is a hole is this sadistic logic and demand that you could drive a train through. You don't need to prove anything to obtain EC in South Dakota. It is available to anyone who is over 18 and can actually find the medication and a pharmacist willing to dispense it (no small feat in SD). There is no difference between rape victim and non rape victim when it comes to EC. So by their logic they have put an "exception" for everyone over 18 to have an abortion in their abortion ban, they are just shortening the timeline? But now back to the fact that EC is NOT an exception and is not an abortion. It is quite the go-nowhere arguement they are using to try to get a law passed.

Now Bob Ellis the official mouthpiece of Voteyesforlife.com and the official voice of the "pro-life" movement in South Dakota is trying to now backpeddle on his status with Voteyesforlife.com
He is their official blogger, blogging on their official website and this official relationship of Bob Ellis as part of Voteyesforlife.com was publicly announced recently.

So its official. The promoters of the SD abortion ban have publicly stated that there are no exceptions in the ban for rape or incest.

Lifelight Hosts Hate Groups

There are plenty of ads promoting Lifelight christian festival in Sioux Falls this coming weekend. What they are not actively promoting is some of the hate fueled groups that are conducting seminars.

Bound 4 Life will be conducting an anti-abortion activist rally called the "hidden holocaust".
This group protests abortion clinics, court houses and other entities with the intent of causing disruption. The groups agenda also includes replacing the supreme court with judges that uphold their agenda, the eradication of Islam and support of Israel. This group also believes that " God is beginning to warn his Church of impending judgement". Bound4Life has been seen in the past, they were the people protesting in front of the nursing home where Terri Schaivo was and in front of the Supreme Court. This is an extreme fringe group.

Ron Luce will also be conducting seminars for youth pastors.
Luce is well known for his violent and intolerant ministry that espouses such ideas as:
"This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent—the ‘forceful’ ones—will lay hold of the kingdom,"
"That is your youth pastor. He’s going to make you a SEAL for Christ." (using Navy SEALs onstage as his examples)
The Battle Cry rallies use extensive use of militarist imagery and wording, even the presentation of active and former military personnel to promote their ideas of spreading Christianity throughout the U.S. and the world.

This is what they consider good clean family fun?

Tuesday South Dakota Chooses Death

Tuesday is the date set for the first execution in South Dakota since the 40's. Governor Mike Rounds fully approves of killing someone and has already said he would do nothing to stop it.
This clearly does not square with the "culture of life" nonsense they were flinging everywhere during the legislative session. Many are head scratching trying to figure out how the SD Taliban can be claiming that "all life is precious" yet largely ignore the most blatant and preventable death in the state.

Those who wish to ban abortion care little about life, it is all about sadistic judgement.

Banning abortion is not about saving anyone's life it is there desire to punish and judge people they consider to be immoral. They see a lifetime of "paying the consequences" as just punishment for your supposedly wanton behavior. More disturbing is that they lump rape and incest victims into this punishment. There are no exceptions in the abortion ban and you DO NOT have 10 days to use EC, you have 72 hours.

The punishment continues with the zealotry of some to kill a criminal. Yes, what Elijah Page did was a horrific crime.

What does killing him do?
He is already in prison for life so he poses no public threat.
All studies have proven that the death penalty does not deter crime.
It does not provide "closure" to victim's families.
It costs considerably more than life in prison.

So why are we doing this? Revenge, judgement and punishment.

Yet again our entire state is being dragged into the sadistic fantasies of the religious reich.

Plan B Goes OTC - Raises More Questions

Plan B (emergency contraception) goes over the counter according to an FDA release today.
It will be available over the counter to anyone over 18. If you are under 18 it requires a doctor's note. This is an unusual stipulation for an OTC medication. The FDA news release also does not say how the age restriction will be handled. Since the "under 18" age restriction exists will a cashier be allowed to check for a doctor's note? Will it only be sold by requesting it from the pharmacist who will do the age check and possibly the morality check too?

Most OTC medications like Claritin or Prilosec can be sold by any store, stocked on the shelves. The age restriction still keeps the gatekeeper in place by forcing women to have to get the pharmacists approval to buy the medication. Will it require you to sign a form much like the meth lists kept for cold medicines? Women signing their names on such lists would put them at high risk of those names being used improperly to harrass or worse to those women.

The OTC approval is a half step and improves little. If you could not get Plan B at a pharmacy because the pharmacist is behaving as their own outpost of the morality police before, nothing will change with the OTC status. The age restriction is very concerning since those most at risk for having sex without contraceptive use are under 18.

In France emergency contraception is available without prescription, without parent authorization, and free of charge for teenagers under the age of 18. School nurses are also allowed to distribute it to students who request it. France also has a comprehensive program to promote contraceptive use and access to everyone. It has had a dramatic effect, France's abortion rate is far lower than that of the US.

So is the US move to put Plan B as an OTC going to solve things? Not in the scenario it is being done. There are still too many obsticles in getting the drug including activist pharmacists, cost and social pressures to deter young women from accessing or requesting the drug. Since we don't have a federal health benefit program like most of Europe has, making it free is less likely to happen. But removing the age restrictions and putting the product out on retail shelves must happen for this to be more than a token effort.

Facts About The Pro-Life Porn Group Connection

The anti-choice tin foil hat crowd is busy trying to do damage control from the story broke recently of their use of a group selling XXX porn to also do push-polling and donation gathering for them.

Tomalhe has posted some facts about the evidence in question linking Voteyesforlife.com, and the other ban advocates. It appears that the anti-choice fanatics are Google illiterate.

Here is the direct link for the proper Google search that shows the evidence in question.

This previous story at Clean Cut Kid gives more details about names and phone numbers.

AETR INC google search
ER PR google search
Online responses from all over the US establishing the phone number and that "ER PR and "AETR INC" are all three one in the same. Please note that all calls were Republican or conservative cause promoting push-polling.

Out of state blog documenting the calls from the same number for "Spice Videos" and coming from the exact same phone number.

Check out the map showing the large number of calls in South Dakota from this number.

AETR shows up as an established business and location via Google.

Oh my it gets BETTER. In the Google search for AETR Inc. You get a result from Super Pages showing their physical address and a corporate phone number. This address is verified by the Google search that shows the business and physical location. The Super Pages result also has a corporate phone number. The corporate phone number is (703) 815-8003 and is also verified as the corporate phone number in the Google map search above.

A Google search of this phone number results in some interesting results. It comes up as the phone number of a Dana Lutz. It also comes up as the number for "Discreet Encounters" a sex escort service in VA and is publicly listed in Yahoo's directory. This phone number also shows up on a Washington DC escort service list from Amazon.com. It also comes up for a massage parlor in the same VA area called Katies. The massage listing is a mix of actual massage clinics, massage parlors and escort services. This same phone number also comes up with a listing for "Full Service Encounters" as an escort service. The number also showed an establishment called Tempations. All of these associated with the corporate number for AETR Inc. who is established as doing the push-polling and donation solicitation in South Dakota. Here is more information on "Tempations" in Clifton VA it includes the same phone number as AETR and a nearby street address .

All of this clearly establishes that the company doing the push polling is also involved in the Spice Video phone calls and that this same corporation is clearly involved in the sex trade around Washington DC.

SD Anti-Choice Groups Plan B Big Lie

Rock at Clean Cut Kid has really been doing his footwork this week.
He uncovered this steaming pile that Leslee Unruh and her cohorts should be confronted on by the main stream media.

They are proclaiming Plan B emergency contraception to be the great savior for their no exceptions abortion ban and how they now suddenly support its use. Their convenient stance is that somehow Plan B is an acceptable stand in for the lack of any exceptions in the ban for rape or incest victims.

But wait. Isn't Leslee and the whole anti-choice movement also anti- contraception? Can you say Abstinence Clearinghouse? How about their attempt to force abstinence only as the state policy for sex ed in the public schools? How about their repeated statements that they want to outlaw all contraception?

Their sudden embrace of Plan B is the big lie. The only reason they are conveniently embracing this is they found out through the polls that the majority of people in SD and the US would vote down any ban without rape or incest exceptions by a large majority. So if they are able to succeed in pushing the lie in order to get their ban passed how many think Plan B and contraception would quickly be their next target as soon as the Legislature was back in session.

Since Leslee is speaking in the near future at a national anti-choice anti-contraception rally about her opposition to contraception the big lie is painfully evident.

Their campain in SD has no leg to stand on and they are resorting to this deception tactic about Plan B as their new mantra. One would think if their ban actually had merits that could be factually backed up they would be presenting that to the public, not this sudden embrace of Plan B.

Rounds Tries To Excuse His Lust For Death

The Argus did two stories on the upcoming execution of Elijah Page this weekend. The remarkable part are some of the comments made by Governor Mikey.

Point made were that Rounds has every intention on conducting the execution. He also claimed that he has only gotten several dozen emails on the death penalty issue. Maybe he should put down the vodka bottle and check his inbox. Rounds again tried to reinterperate in his favor the Catholic Church stance on this issue in direct conflict with the public statements of SD Catholic Church officials.

This answer is interesting:
"A: There's a real difference between an innocent human being and someone who has been convicted in a court of law of murdering another human being and may do it again."

Um, Mikey. Page is in prison, if not executed he would be serving LIFE in prison. He is not a public risk now is he. So how is he going to do it again?? We should expect better reasoning from the highest public official in the State.

Rounds has claimed he is the "decider" and will participate in Page's assisted suicide.

He is facing a growing and large dissent. This could be enough to completely derail his re-election.

When the death penalty was reinstated in the 70's it was almost a split vote. The issue does not have a concensus in the state.

"It's more than his decision to trust a judge instead of a jury and to give up on appeals, a sequence that leads Bishop Blase Cupich to conclude that "the state is being seduced to participate in his suicide.""

""There's no good purpose in killing the perpetrator. It just makes us partners in a violent cycle," said Sharon Gray, 46, the victim's sister and a teacher at Augustana College."

""What are we doing here socially?" asked Stone, who teaches religion and philosophy at Mount Marty College in Yankton. "Is this supposed to be something that keeps people from doing these kinds of crimes? In the long run, would we not be just as good to give a sentence of life without parole and avoid the stigma of having joined the individual as a killer?""

"Cupich said the issue is not sympathy, but rather, what Page's death would say of citizens of a democracy.
"This is an act of violence," the bishop said. "It's not the prison personnel. It's not the person who actually injects the poison. Because this is a representative government, we all participate in this. Is that the legacy we want to pass on?""

This guy takes the cake though. If ever there was someone who needs to be asked politely to get out of town this guy is it. Not only does he contradict himself by saying that "God is the only one who has the right to take life" he then goes on to say that he's fine with people taking a life.
His twisted comment "God sets up governments as human agents to uphold his standards." is very disturbing and very telling. This guy, Tony Randall is the pastor of Lincoln Hills Bible Church in Sioux Falls. This is how fundamentalism injects itself into government. It starts with people like this.

Anti-Choice Activists Use Porn Company To Make Misleading Calls To South Dakota Residents

Clean Cut Kid broke this story this morning.

A company from VA is calling SD residents under the guise of doing a poll, but part of their "questions" make false statements about the abortion ban. Included in that poll is this statement:
"well, what if we told you that exceptions for rape or incest are in the bill?"

This company doing the misinformation campaign on behalf of the anti-choice activists also sells XXX Porn. The company called AETR INC and ER PR "also sells XXX porn for a company called from "Spice Videos" offering 4 free "XXX hardcore" DVDs -- including one on necrophilia."

So they have hired a porn company to make false statements for them.

There are no exceptions in the SD abortion ban. Read it for yourself, no exception for rape or incest at all. They have tried and failed to use Plan B emergency contraception as an exception but it is not. Not to mention that Plan B is virtually impossible to get in SD.

Another Snag In The No Exceptions Abortion Ban

The SD Taliban has been trying to weasel out of the no exceptions clause in their abortion ban by claiming that Plan B is somehow filling that "no exceptions" for rape and incest victims. Beyond their claims that Plan B solves anything, never mind its almost impossible to get and hospitals don't even have to tell victims of its existence, now there is a new hurdle.

In NY three CVS pharmacists refused to fill refill prescriptions for Plan B.

"The pharmacists apparently had no religious or moral objections to E.C. the first time around; it was that second time that proved the women's behavior was "irresponsible" as Andrea Barcomb, a CVS supervisor, put it to the AP. (Actually, it seems to us that taking preventive measures as soon as possible to avoid unwanted pregnancy is the very definition of responsibility.) As Elisabeth Benjamin, director of NYCLU's Reproductive Rights program, told the AP, "these refusals seem to just be based solely on moralistic assumptions of women's sexuality.""

Now besides the sheer impossibility to get Plan B in South Dakota, you add the layer of arbitrary judgement from a pharmacist based on a snap assumption of another person.

Billion Gives Rounds A Smackdown

Jack Billion gives soon to be former governor Mike Rounds an absolute smackdown on his lack of leadership and smarmy behavior surrounding the abortion ban.

The facts in question come from Rounds own comments and documented actions surrounding the abortion ban, that he clearly didn't even read it while it was in the legislature, his poor leadership in signing something he knew was a bad law and unconstitutional and his later attempts to divorce himself from his own actions.

The abortion ban itself is a sidenote in the whole run for governor. What it shows us about the capability, competence and mindset if Rounds is very important though. Rounds has been behaving in a totally arrogant fashion for quite a while now. His recent comments in the Argus about how he is the one making the decision about the upcoming execution of Elijah Page and that the voices of the people of South Dakota are irrelevant is a pretty damning example of Rounds arrogance. His signing of a law that he knew the majority of South Dakotans do not want (and was proven by the ballot signatures) and that he knew was unconstitutional confirms both his arrogance and incompetence. The governor works for the people of South Dakota, not the other way around. Rounds decided for himself that he would throw the state into turmoil with a divisive issue and burden us, the people of South Dakota with the large financial cost of his anti-abortion folly in the courts. But all of this begs a larger question. If he is screwing up things in these areas how bad is he screwing things up in other areas? Is he really acting in our best interests all around?

What about the distillery law he signed to benefit his brothers? What other favors is he doing for people he knows?

What about his documented abuse of the state plane? How many other things has he abused at taxpayer expense?

How are either of those acting in the best interest of the people of South Dakota?

When the drought became a big issue last month Rounds suggested we "pray for rain". This is not leadership. He should have been doing his job and actively looking at real solutions to help farmers, not only with pushing for aid programs, but what else could be done to minimize the losses incurred in the state. This is where creative thinking and real leadership come in. All we got was "pray for rain".

Another issue that has been brought up is the economic health of our state. Rounds has failed miserably on this front. His stellar idea was to court companies that would bring in low paying, high turnover call centers. He used low wages and lax labor laws as a selling feature of our state. This is not only not in the long term best interest of South Dakota it is a poorly conceived policy. South Dakota does have much to offer but Rounds is letting that slip away untapped. Our agriculture, alternative energy and other industries have great potential. Rounds took the easy way out and exploited South Dakotans for companies looking for cheap abuseable labor. This is not leadership nor in the best interest of South Dakota.

Schools is part of that economic health. If we ever wish to become more than a US based version of a Bangalore call center we need to make sure the people we graduate from South Dakota schools and universities have something in demand to offer. Rounds chose to ignore our schools and mumble something about handing out some laptops as a door prize. This is not leadership or in the best interest of our state.

What reminds us most of where we are as a state today is the turn around of Sioux Falls back in the late 1980's. Some forward thinking people decided they would take things into their own hands and stop Sioux Falls ongoing slide into decline. Jobs were scarce, the cities economic health was failing. There was much mud-slinging from the well entrenched old conservative types who saw the status quo as just fine. They wanted nothing to do with these forward thinking people. They claimed it was a bad idea and a waste of money to revitalize Sioux Falls and said they would fail miserably. But the old schoolers were overruled and Sioux Falls went on to be proclaimed a number one city. Cities who kept the status quo have turned into run down husks with no opportunity. This is evident again and again in smaller cities much like Sioux Falls that experienced the same issues in the 80's but kept the status quo.

Its about the real future of South Dakota.
Who will lead South Dakota and all of us to thrive.
Who will let South Dakota and all of us stagnate.

Rounds Chooses Death

Governor Mike Rounds, the darling of the pro-life movement has decided to put Elijah Page to death.

What makes this even more interesting that his hypcritical stance is that this boils down to assisted suicide. Page is volunteering to die, he has asked to waive his remaining appeals.
So does this open the door for an assisted suicide law in South Dakota? It does potentially set the legal precedence.

What is also missing from the public debate about this upcoming death is the total silence from South Dakota Right To Life, the Baptist churches and the other fundamentalist churches who were very vocal during the abortion ban debate. Where is "voteyesforlife" on this? Is anyone starting to see the real motivation of the abortion ban has nothing to do with a culture of life concept that was used as the excuse for the ban.

So far some Lutheran and Catholic groups along with a number of individuals have contacted Rounds and he has flatly ignored their pleas. Round also mentioned that he is purposely ignoring any form letters sent to his office. We have it on good authority that there is a considerable volume of these type of responses sent to his office, showing that there is public outcry.

This comment from Rounds speaks volumes:
"But the issue is not a group decision, he said. "I have to decide this for myself," he said."

Sorry Mikey but this IS a group decision. You are our employee. You work for the people of South Dakota. Maybe he thinks he is the decider now? The public is speaking out on this issue and demanding your action and you are flatly ignoring the public that you work for. He seems to have an established track record of this.

Abortion Does Not Cause Cancer, And Some Notion To What Might.

The National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute issued a report based on a comprehensive study proving that abortion and miscarriage do not cause cancer. The report also noted that specific studies claiming that there was a correlation were using flawed data and methods.

There is some early research showing that there might be a relationship between growth hormones used in commercial milk production and increases in breast cancer. The University of Illinois School of Public Health is researching Monsanto's growth hormone rBGH and its effect on IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1) hormone in the body.
"IGF-1 is a potent stimulator of human breast cells in tissue culture, that it blocks the programmed self-destruction of breast cancer cells, and enhances their growth and invasiveness."

"As detailed in a January 1996 report in the prestigious International Journal of Health Services, rBGH milk differs from natural milk chemically, nutritionally, pharmacologically and immunologically, besides being contaminated with pus and antibiotics resulting from mastitis induced by the biotech hormone. More critically, rBGH milk is supercharged with high levels of abnormally potent IGF-1, up 10 times the levels in natural milk and over 10 times more potent. IGF-1 resists pasteurization, digestion by stomach enzymes, and is well absorbed across the intestinal wall."

There have been increasing concerns in the scientific and medical communities for years about food additives and other artificial substances used in commercial food production and their possible link to cancers.

In case your wondering HyVee stores carry rBGH free milk under their organic milk store brand and also Naturally Iowa brand.

Desperate Anti-Choice Groups Attempting To Confuse Voters

Dr. Maria Bell and SD Healthy Families released the statement below. Many who frequent blogs and forums know exactly what lengths these people will go to in order to fabricate information, lie and mislead the public. One recent one tried to claim that EC could be used for weeks after conception. The medical use indicates 72 hours. Add to this that it requires a doctor's prescription, most pharmacies do not carry it and hospitals such as Avera have said they will refuse to inform rape victims that EC even exists.

Dr. Bell's comments

Friends: You probably saw the recent poll conducted by KELO TV showing that South Dakotans are opposed to this rigid and restrictive abortion ban. I'm sure it scared our opponents. They are behind and convinced that they could win if they just confuse the voters. For example, they recently put misleading information out about emergency contraception -- and said the abortion ban will be okay for rape and incest victims. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. What if your mother, sister or daughter was the victim of rape? You'd want her to receive the best medical treatment she deserves. But Referred Law 6 prevents victims of rape or incest from making personal, responsible decisions with their doctors and families. Many victims of rape and incest, including young women, are too ashamed or afraid to come forward in time to prevent the pregnancy. The availability of emergency contraception is a big problem. A woman must use emergency contraception within 72 hours in order to prevent a pregnancy. Since it is only available by a doctor's prescription and many pharmacies in South Dakota don't carry it, this is not an option for most rape and incest victims. The hard reality is that Referred Law 6 provides no option for victims of rape and incest. It's one of the many reasons we are urging all South Dakotans to vote NO on Referred Law 6 in November. The law also provides no health exception. So when a pregnant woman faces a debilitating health condition, her doctors and nurses won't be able to help -- they won't even be able to share treatment options they believe to be in her best interests. Those who pushed this ban don't want to talk about that though. They want to confuse the voters by making false claims.

SD Healthy Families website

Congress To Set Federal Standards For Sex Ed

Sen. Frank Lautenberg's and Rep. Barbara Lee's Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act (S.368/HR.2553) could do just that.

Frustrated with federal funds being used to give students inaccurate and dangerous information through religious based abstinence only programs in the public schools, Congress may finally do something about this.

"Many federally funded "abstinence-only" programs actually censor lifesaving information that would help teens protect themselves. Many of these programs include blatantly false and inaccurate information, and some programs have been shown to actually increase the likelihood that young people will have unprotected sex and get pregnant."

This law would assure that students receive factual information only in school and set a higher standard assuring they are given accurate information.

Probably the best comment so far in reference to this issue was this:
"And we all agree that young people should be taught values at home - and the facts at school."

Crazy quotes contest!

There are too many insane, stupid and just plain crazy comments being tossed out in the abortion ban debate. Bloggers, people off the streets, activists and politicians are all putting their two cents in, sometimes with some interesting outcomes.

So here is the deal. Post your favorite crazy quote here, in the comments section. The rules are that it must in some way be related to the SD abortion ban or related issues in SD. You need to post the quote, the name or pseudonym of who wrote it and a link to where you found it.

We will also be posting some of our favorites in the comments as we find them.

"Pro-life" South Dakota Plans To Kill In August

South Dakota's "pro-life" governor Mike Rounds will show exactly how pro-life he really is on August 28th. Elijah Page is set to be executed on August 28th in South Dakota.

Yet not a peep from Mike Rounds, Brock Greenfield (pres. of SD right to life), Roger Hunt (key legislator in the abortion ban) or Leslee Unruh (the state poster child for proper birth control use).

All of these people and many more were drowning the media with how much they value life, how precious it is, how they would do anything to save a "life". That was March, now as a very public state sponsored death is upon us they have all disappeared. It is also curious that the state media outlets have said nothing on this upcoming issue or the total hypocrisy.

Even more interesting than the total silence from the "right to life" people is the life this man lead before his conviction. According to court information Page had a horrible life.

"Page was a product of a drug ridden and disturbed household. Page was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused; his mother often would allow drug dealers to molest Page in exchange for drugs and his step-father once used him as a human shield in a drug-related shoot out. Warren Johnson, the judge who presided over Page’s punishment trial, stated, “Most parents treated their pets better than your parents treated you.” The millions of dollars spent on the death penalty system could be much better spent on treating and preventing drug use, which may have spared Page a twisted childhood and saved the life of Allan Poage."

Had our state valued Page's life after he was born and done more than ignore the situation and pass him off to various foster homes the outcome may have been different. Our "culture of life" activists see no need to put money into the social programs that could have saved Page from a life no person deserved to live. Most of these groups actually want to do away with social programs in the state.

What he did was horrible. What South Dakota didn't do for years is equally as horrible.
As a state, the blood is on our hands.

Stalking Gays And Bashing Mainstream Christianity In Rapid City

Clean Cut Kid has a thread about South Dakota's resident bigot stalking at the Diversity Festival and shopping for his holiday presents.

One has to wonder why these guys went to the Diversity Festival. It does not seem that they went to learn or understand other people. What was more interesting that their stalking activities was their slam on mainstream religion. It shows how clearly outside of the majority these types are.
They slammed both the Lutherans and Methodists, along with the United Church of Christ.
Chad notes that the Lutherans and Methodists make up nearly the majority of people in our state.
This comment from the stalkers says it all:
"All of this literature contained some of the most messed up Scriptural and theological information I think I have ever seen. Some of it completely ignored Scripture altogether, and other pamphlets tried to emphasize God’s love while completely ignoring God’s holiness and righteousness."

The people behind the rather bizzare marriage amendment, the abortion ban, and the attempts to restrict contraception access think most people in South Dakota are far too tolerant and are wrong for not using religion as an excuse to abuse, discriminate or worse to your fellow man.

Just remember this when you go to the polls in November.

Friday Funnies: How To Make A Bigot Flop On The Floor And Swallow His Tongue

Here is some cheap Friday humor.

Bob the Bigot has literally flopped on the floor and swallowed his tongue over this whole marriage amendment thing. In one day he has outed the whole family values crowd (and himself) as bigots. He fully admitted the true motivation of the marriage amendment is to force marriage upon people and harrass anyone who does not accept their version of Christian marriage.

In his latest tantrum he clearly admits the mindset of those supporting the marriage amendment, how insane they are and exactly what they think about people living together, or in any other sort of relationship they do not approve of. It is funny, sick and disturbing all at the same time.

Just remember that the comments in the link are what your voting for if you vote for the marriage amendment.

The Ugly Truth Comes Out, They Want To Force You To Marry.

Sometimes the religious reich opens their mouth and the truth falls out just like Mel Gibson on a DUI tirade.

South Dakota religious facists are now admitting that the intent of the "marriage amendment" is to force heterosexual people into marriage by stripping away any rights they would have had otherwise.

Some points to be made in response to the heavily flawed logic in the linked article:

Restraining orders for domestic violence are treated differently that normal restraining orders.
Domestic restraining orders can be granted with far less evidence, in as little as 24 hours, and a temporary is many times ordered right away with a follow up to determine if it will stay in place. Non-domestic restraining orders are not issued quickly, require a scheduled court date with a judge and need more evidence and testimony to obtain. There is a night and day difference between the two. This amendment would remove the domestic aspect of people co-habitating and they would lose the ability to obtain a domestic violence restraining order.
According to the article they would have no problem subjecting women to death, maiming or other varieties of violence as fit punishment for them not participating in a Christian marriage.
Having helped more than a few women excape very violent domestic situations, this is a very real and very dire consequence of this amendment.

Power of attorney is one thing. Proving it in an emergency is quite another. We are not talking about simply visiting someone in the hospital. Making an emergency decision, riding in an ambulance, approving a life saving procedure. This amendment makes the whole thing all the more complicated and difficult. What if this amendment also leads to additional laws that prohibit non married people from living together? There is a current story in the news where a Missouri town is evicting people from homes they own because they are not married.
Do we really want that in South Dakota? Seniors sharing housing, roommates, all are banned under this city law. Is that really where we want to go?

The article also makes it completely clear that they want to make sure that nobody is allowed to obtain benefits for their partner, homosexual or heterosexual. They think this is their business to force their will into your personal relationship and the agreements you make with your employer. How is this not forcing their religion on others?

We are glad they are at least coming clean and being honest that they wish to force their version of marriage on everyone.

So according to them the amendment really means:
Forced marriage.
Death is a suitable punishment for living together.
You should be punished, even if your domestic situation is not a romantic one.
Employer benefits are subject to religious scrutiny.

Now here is the unanswered question. Are marriages that are done by religions other than Christianity or that are not approved by a Christian church not really marriages in these people's opinions?

Amendment C Also Restricts Heterosexual Relationships

The media has failed to emphasize all of what Amendment C will do and its FAR MORE than "banning gay marriage" as the South Dakota Taliban would like people to think.

From the amendment:
" § 9. Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota."

The second sentence is the killer. It makes ANY civil union, domestic partnership or quasi-marital relationship invalid in South Dakota. That portion makes no reference to the gender of the people involved. They are also restricting ANY form of recognized relationship between a man and a woman other than the state version of marriage. Living together - nope, common law marriage - nope. No option for benefits at work, no option for the legal right to assist the other in medical decisions, no domestic abuse protection.

Many in South Dakota still think this is a "gay marriage ban" when in reality its much much more.

Here are some scenarios to think about:
Your daughter has been living with her boyfriend for 4 years. They have two kids together. He develops a drug problem and begins abusing your daughter. Because of this amendment your daughter would have no right to abuse protection under the law.

Your elderly dad who has a number of medical conditions has been sharing his house with his platonic female friend for the past 10 years. Sharing a house allows them to save on expenses with their limited income. Dad's friend also helps care for his medical needs and probably knows more about his condition than anyone in your family who all live out of state. Dad collapses and ends up in the hosptial. The hosptial won't give her the time of day, will not let her see him and she knows his condition and wishes. Now the hospital waits 24 hours while a family member rushes to South Dakota.

Now here is another question that is not clearly answered by the amendment. If "non marriage" relationships are not recognized or valid in South Dakota does that mean that a company can now not voluntarily provide healthcare benefits to a domestic partner or just that they are not required to? Many employers today do provide domestic partner benefits, would they now be prevented from doing so according to SD law?

With all the focus being on "gay marriage" with the amendment a recent poll showed that 49% of the state would vote down the ban. This is while so much misinformation is still floating around. If or when more of the public fully understands this amendment those wanting to vote it down will surely increase.

The other big piece of misinformation still out there, or maybe it is more of an assumption, that voting down this ban would allow gays to marry in South Dakota and that is simply not the case. Though we know that the South Dakota Taliban wants people to think that is the case, they want the public to view this as preventing gay marriage from suddenly being legal in South Dakota when in actuality it is banning people from living together, even heterosexual couples.

Preachers Wife Pulls Gun On Him During Service.

A preacher's wife pulled a gun during services Sunday accusing the pastor of infidelity over a text message. Most of the congretation left while a few attempted to talk the woman down. She was eventually taken into custody.

Moral authority in the conservative church? Anyone? Buhler.....Buhler.

The Moral Question Of Healthcare.

If healthcare is not a moral issue why were so many of the hospitals originally founded by religious orders to help people? Why to this day is so much of the third world healthcare provided by both secular and religious groups as efforts to aid people, not as business models?

Health is a moral imperative. It is not a commodity like your cel phone service that you can pick, choose or do without. Sadly, the religious conservatives keep pushing healthcare, people's lives and wellbeing into the same category as cell phones and fashion.

Why on earth would those supposedly of the moral high ground living the pius life turn their back on such an obvious moral imperative? Money. Greed. What comes up every time universal healthcare is even mentioned? They don't want to pay for it, even though they would in turn be also paying for their own healthcare. The idea of subsidizing healthcare to assure a lower income child had life saving asthma treatment makes them habitually slam their pockets shut out of nothing more than selfishness and greed. We as a country can dump billions into corporate welfare for oil companies without a peep from the conservatives who constantly whine about taxes. Yet when it comes to the possibility of helping assure the children, elderly and working poor have equal access to healthcare they slam their wallets shut.

To coin a phrase from their playbook, what would Jesus do?

Amnesty International Proposals To Allow Contraception And Abortion Access

Amnesty International is working on a proposal that would support legal access to contraception and abortion in the case of rape or to save the life of the woman.

It is ironic that South Dakota would find itself under the eye of Amnesty International if its ban ever becomes law. The access to contraception portion of the proposal is also substantial here in South Dakota as it would effect pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions, refusal to give out Plan B at hospitals and other tactics used to prevent access to contraception.

At the same time it is a very sad day when South Dakota is being lumped in with third world countries for its record on human rights for women.

Poll: SD Would Vote Down The Abortion Ban

According to a new poll, South Dakota would vote down the abortion ban.

The poll did not state where they polled people or how they randomized these results across the state. It would be interesting to see if they had just polled around the population centers if the result would have shown a larger margin against the ban. But the poll is very telling. Morality police officials like Leslee Unruh and Roger Hunt were claiming that the entire state supported this ban. Clearly the majority of the state does not support this.

FDA To Consider OTC Sales Of Plan B

The FDA is talking to Plan B maker Barr Laboratories about possibly making Plan B an over the counter drug. This sudden move comes as the current head of the FDA is going through confirmation hearings in Congress. There has been talk of Congress holding up his confirmation until Plan B is approved.

There are no medical or scientific hurdles for making Plan B over the counter. The only hurdle that has prevented this is pressure from some conservative religious groups.