email from Planned Parenthood on SD abortion ballot question

[Gopher Broke]

FW: We’re certified

Dear friends,

I usually don't do this, but the message below is just too important not to pass on to you right away...

I just received the email below from my friend Sarah Stoesz, the President of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota Action Fund. She's in a fight in South Dakota that we all have a huge stake in and she needs your help.

http://www.standupsd.com/petition

Anti-choice extremists have targeted South Dakota in their latest attempt to outlaw abortion. As Sarah describes in her report below, they are funneling millions of dollars and bus loads of activists to enact a near-complete ban. And if they succeed in South Dakota, there's no telling what comes next.

In recent weeks, South Dakotans have done their part by successfully forcing a challenge to the law. They delivered more than twice the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot in November. But now it's our turn.

Please stand up for South Dakota today.

http://www.standupsd.com/petition

Start by signing the StandUpSD.com petition. Then, if you can, make an early contribution to help give Sarah all of the resources she will need in the months ahead. Now that the signatures are certified, she needs to raise at least $250,000 before July 1st to put 15 field organizers on the ground throughout South Dakota. That's about $100 dollars a day per organizer.

Will you donate $100 right now to help fight the abortion ban in South Dakota?

http://www.standupsd.com/contribute

Please don't wait. Take action now.

Sincerely,

Cecile Richards President Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc.

-----Original Message----- From: Sarah A. Stoesz Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 8:36 AM To: Cecile Richards Subject: We're certified!!!!

Dear Cecile,

It's official! On November 7th we're on the ballot in South Dakota! With the help of hundreds of volunteers, our tiny SD staff and coalition partners collected nearly twice the number of signatures needed to prevent the abortion ban -- HB 1215 -- from taking effect on July 1 by forcing it to the ballot.

Since you and I met last month we've made great progress. Here's a brief report:

First (obviously) is the signature certification today.

As you know there were many rumors that the anti-choice leaders of this bill were planning to challenge the validity of our signatures and the deadline for handing them in. I think we really shocked them by getting so many petitions so much quicker than they thought.

The polls in SD are still really tight. I don't know about you, but when I talk to my friends and family around the country they just don't seem to get how serious the effects of this law are for everyone nationwide... how urgent this fight is. But when I talk to people on the streets in SD -- whether they consider themselves pro-choice or not -- they know this law goes too far. But will they vote??!!

Oh, and how the opposition is organizing! They'll be bringing in bus loads of people and millions of dollars to this fight. They also have an anonymous donor who has pledged $1 million for the Governor to defend this thing.

My next goal is to get 15 full time staff members on the ground. We really need people to be able to start the painstaking work canvassing, flyering, making phone calls, etc.

So, it goes without saying that we've got our work cut out for us. But, as you and I both know, this is simply not a battle we can lose, so I'm throwing everything we've got into it and more. I'm estimating that we'll be committing millions of dollars directly to this campaign. This is, of course, on top of the money it takes to keep our two clinics open in the state.

So, starting today, I'm on the road to raise $250,000 to hire the 15 field organizers we"ll need. We've identified a handful of great candidates and we're on the search for more. These are people from South Dakota, leaders in their communities. They will be our key to victory in November.

Cecile, thanks again for your partnership in this fight. It's truly the biggest challenge of my life and I only hope that, with your help, we can get Americans from all over involved. This is not going to be won in South Dakota alone.

I look forward to speaking with you soon,

Very best -

S.

P.S. We've launched our new campaign website. Check it out at www.StandUpSD.com. Tell everyone you know to sign our petition and help get the word out!!!

Sarah A. Stoesz

President and CEO

Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund

1965 Ford Parkway

St. Paul, MN 55116

[end of forwarded message]

[IIntense]

...child conceived by the act of rape should be punished more severly...

Mr. Lucky, it is so easy for us to make a judgement when we view something in an abstract or undetached way. We have to put ourselves in the same situation and then honestly answer the question, "What would we do?"

Then, if we are sure that our wife, sister, mother, daughter (even if she is 13 to 21 years old) has a moral obligation to carry a child, conceived because of a rape, for nine months and then give birth, only then can we honestly espouse that belief.

[IIntense]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

I completely agree with that, so, on this subject, I'm straddling the fence.

If you are male, you're not going to get pregnant, whether you are married, dating, or raped. Therefore, you may not even be capable of imagining what it's like to be pregnant, let alone brought on by a vicious rapist. You simply cannot put yourself in such a victim's shoes!

While I truly appreciate the strong abhorrence many men have for abortion, I don't believe they all understand the devastating effects of rape.

While I've never been a victim, I can well believe the trauma some women have suffered.

[IIntense]

...should she then be permitted to kill the baby?

Since you didn't specify that the man raped the woman, can we assume they both agreed to a sexual relationship? And that she chose to have this baby?

I think you're mixing apples and oranges here. Logic is missing.

[IIntense]

...isn't it better that one or two women every few years have to bring a child into this world who was conceived through rape...

Sure, unless you are one of them. Give it some thought.

[mockingbyrd]

as a victim of such a monstrous attack, believe me, I gave the possible situation quite a bit a thought.