Posted on 02/28/2006 1:53:09 AM PST by beaversmom
Stay out of South Dakota.
That's the message one pro-choice group has for its supporters.
The Wisconsin-based Women's Medical Fund is calling for a boycott of South Dakota tourism if Governor Mike Rounds signs a bill banning most abortions.
It's the state's second largest industry, but South Dakota tourism could see a drop in visitors who don't support a ban on abortion.
Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Women's Medical Fund says, "Women across the country and those who believe in women's rights need to act immediately to let South Dakotans know that we will bypass South Dakota, that we can do without Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and the Badlands and the Corn Palace."
Last year tourism brought in two billion dollars worth of economic impact.
Teri Ellis Schmidt with the SF Convention and Visitors Bureau says, "Tourism is critical to Sioux Falls and all of South Dakota. It's the bread and butter of a lot of people's livelihoods."
And while out-of-state visitors may not think of places like the falls, they often stop here on their way out west. So this part of the state could also take a hit.
Schmidt says, "We know Sioux Falls is also a destination spot for tourists and convention goers and they may stay longer and go to the Black Hills so what's good for one of us is good for all and what's bad for one is bad for all of us."
And since some potential visitors believe the abortion bill is bad for America, they plan to take their anger out on the state where they believe it will hurt the most.
Gaylor says, "They depend on tourism and the goodwill of other Americans./30:28 "when Idaho was poised to pass a similar ban there was a boycott called of Idaho potatoes and we got the governor to back down."
But Governor Mike Rounds has also heavily promoted increasing tourism as part of his 20-10 initiative, which increases the political pressure as he decides whether to sign the controversial bill into law.
Schmidt says, "I wouldn't want to be in the governor's shoes for anything right now!"
The state tourism office has received between 60 and 75 emails on the issue, both positive and negative.
Pro-Lifers need to counter.
This boycott and $3.95 will get you a cup of Starbucks.
So will bikers go somewhere else than Sturgis in protest
I wanted to post another article that included the counter to this but you can't post from that particular paper. Here's the link:
Could abortion law affect tourism? Both sides say yes
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060228/NEWS/602280326/1001
I've never had any desire to visit South Dekota - until now!
Make that "South DAkota"...sorry, I'm from outa town.
I've never been either but have always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The lady cleaning my teeth the other day was just talking about her visit to SD. So I was already thinking about going--now I really want to go. It's a little closer for me though. Hope you can make the trip someday.
I'll make it my business to!
I've already checked out what it has to offer:
http://www.usatourism.com/sd.htm
Do a google for more links
Road Side America/South Dakota
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/sd.html
USA Tourism/South Dakota
http://www.usatourism.com/sd.htm
Travel SD
http://www.travelsd.com/
South Dakota Office of Tourism
http://www.travelsd.com/
>>>The lady cleaning my teeth the other day was just talking about her visit to SD. So I was already thinking about going--now I really want to go.<<<
Hope you can go.
If you do - make sure you check out the Bill Clinton sculpture going up on the North end of Crazy Horse's steed. :)
OK - not really - wishful thinking on my part.
You beat me to it. P.S. The dental hygienist said she went in September and it was not very crowded at that time.
You won't get me out of Melbourne in September. Australian football finals are on then. Any other suggestions?
A hardened cynic would be pardoned for saying this is a big yawn. SD passes its law in the morning, the Federal injunction is in by the afternoon, followed some weeks later by the official Uncle Sam smackdown yet again. Until enough states care that they can get a constitutional amendment passed, it'll be just another teapot tempest.
I doubt it.
Everyone in South Dakota knows that These lefties in Wisconson don't come to South Dakota anyways. They don't like to stray too far from their mailboxes in case a welfare check comes early. And when they do come, they enpty out the food bank. Let them stay in Wisconson.
Oops!
So... let me get this straight...
If you pass a law banning abortion, the pro aborts will stay away from your state?
And this is supposed to be a BAD thing???
That reminds me... I need to make a visit up there. I haven't been there in about 25 years.
I haven't been there in about 5 years. Guess it's time to go back and visit the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, and maybe do a little gambling in Deadwood.
The dental hygienist said she went in September and it was not very crowded at that time.>>
That's good. I hate to think of what South Dakota is like when it's crowded.
Last year my wife had planned on visiting my aunt and uncle who live on the Iowa/South Dakota stateline. I bought plane tickets to Sioux Falls last week and was thrilled to hear the news about the State Legislature voting to ban abortion.
SD and western Iowa is lovely country. Some of my fondest memories have to do with childhood summers spent in the company of very fine people.
It's good to see them leading the way in this fight in a bi-partisan fashion.
LOL--She was talking about Mt. Rushmore and such.
Difficult to see how this is more than a symbolic move at this point in American misjurisdiction.
I wonder what will happen to all the struck down abortion laws when and if Roe v. Wade gets a chunk taken out of it. Do they spring back into force or do they have to be passed from scratch.
Wasn't it a Democrat that came up with this? I guess they make their Dems a little differently in SD.
Last year my family drove from Florida to the Oregon coast stopping in South Dakota for three days. It was the biggest suprise of the trip. South Dakota was fabulous with the neatest place being Deadwood.
I hadn't planned on going back this year but if this bill makes law I'll go back again this year. Take my family again and spend lots of mopney. Hunting.
The area around Rapid City is a delightful place for a family to spend a week. Day trips can be made to many nearby destinations such as Black Hills, Deadwood, and many nature sights. It is also a great stopping point on the way to other treasures of the West such as Yellowstone.
Too late rats. We're visiting Mount Rushmore this summer. Good to know the four presidents overlook a state with a sense of love, liberty, and justice.
Meanwhile… aborted babies will never have the choice to visit South Dakota or not.
This is the first step.
My belief is that if, as you say, "a chunk is taken out" of the current law, or if Rowe is ruled unconstitutional, then subsequent legislation will be introduced by individual state legislatures.
You make a good point about past laws that have been ruled unconstitutional "spring(ing) back into force". I don't know the answer. Just guessing, I'd say bills would be re-written and introduced.
"Wasn't it a Democrat that came up with this?"
Yes, and I believe it was co-sponsored by a Republican.
Sooo....where are they going to go? South Carolina?
I have always wanted to see Mt Rushmore so maybe the time is now! Unfortunately air fares to SD are extremely high, or at least they were the last time I checked. Time to look into flights to Rapid City again. :)
A roadtrip without a bunch of Libs............PRICELESS!
And this is supposed to be a BAD thing???
Might cut down on the lines at Six Flags...sounds good to me!
Hmmmm.... if I've never been to South Dakota, never even thought about going, and have no particular desire ever to go, does that mean I'm boycotting it? :)
I know the abortion industry is rushing the 'at home' abortion pills poisons out there, they know there is a change in the tides, that the more we learn about prenatal development, the more people are reconsidering aborting. The industry is getting more desperate. I hope the governor does sign, that would send quite a message.
South Dakota is a great family vacation spot. Fun AMERICAN things to do in the Black Hills. See Mt. Rushmore, feed the donkeys in Custer State Park. And you have to visit Wall Drug on the way.
Since my company makes me take two weeks of vacation each year, under threat of losing it, I guess I know where I'll head to.
"Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Women's Medical Fund says..."
FYI, she's the "Freedom FROM Religion" freak. Her Mom founded it and has had her on the books since college:
http://ffrf.org/about/bio_alg.php
Feel free to ignore the foot stomping and whining of this activist/slacker. We in Wisconsin do. :)
Here's an article from out local socialist rag today. The headline SHOULD be:
"Feminists Enraged; May Lose 'Right' to Kill Unborn Children"
Group eyes S.D. tourism boycott over abortion
By Anita Weier
It worked in 1990. Could it work again?
Fifteen years ago, feminists called for a boycott of Idaho potatoes, unless the governor vetoed a restrictive abortion law in that state. Then-governor Cecil Andrus, perhaps aware that women buy most potatoes, vetoed the bill.
Now the Madison-based Women's Medical Fund is threatening a boycott of South Dakota tourism, a major source of income in that state, to encourage that governor to veto a restrictive abortion bill approved by the South Dakota Legislature that is regarded as a possibly decisive case to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"All kinds of families visit Mount Rushmore every year. It's a favorite of Americans and foreign tourists. But we can do without Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, the Badlands and the Corn Palace," said Anne Gaylor, director of the fund, which provides financial assistance for low-income women who could not otherwise afford abortions.
"We have sent a statement to women's groups, and we hope they will bring pressure on the governor of South Dakota. That is what we are after. We do have an issue that is important to South Dakota. The income from tourism is important to them."
Kim Gandy, president of NOW in Washington, D.C., said the national organization has not had time to analyze the possible impact of a boycott of South Dakota and make a decision about a boycott.
"It is definitely something to look at," she said in a phone interview. "The actions of the South Dakota Legislature affect women outside of that state. It would not surprise me if women from around the country don't want to take their families to South Dakota. I would not want to take my family there. My daughters will have to go to the Badlands in some other decade."
She noted, however, that it would take longer for a tourism boycott to produce an effect, whereas people stopped buying potatoes immediately after NOW and other organizations asked them to do so.
"People make travel decisions far in advance," Gandy pointed out.
The Women's Medical Fund has received some expressions of support, Gaylor said. But she added that so far people are first trying to contact the South Dakota governor to get their point across.
"When you are working with very large groups, they tend to have a meeting before they decide to act. We are small enough to respond immediately to a crisis, and we think this is a crisis," added Gaylor, who is better known as past president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
"We know of many groups who don't want this bill to go forward," she said.
Shira Roza, head of Wisconsin NOW, said that the state chapter is concentrating on trying to influence Wisconsin legislators about women's issues instead of focusing on the South Dakota bill. "We feel that we don't have much influence on the governor of South Dakota," she said. "We focus on local issues."
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=74580&ntpid=2
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