In S.D., Abortion Debate Rages (Again)

(CBS)  At the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D., an 18-year-old patient had come to end her pregnancy. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports she hasn't told her parents, and asked not to be identified in this story.

"I'm too young to have a child. It's not the right time for me," she said.

She's one of about 700 women in the state who will have the procedure this year - one of the lowest rates in the country.

But for anti-abortion crusader Leslee Unruh, "One abortion is too many."

Unruh is the driving force behind Initiative 11 - a measure that would make abortion a crime, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother. Her group, Vote Yes for Life, collected 46,000 signatures to put the measure on the November ballot - three times more than they needed.

"[Abortion] is being used for birth control and South Dakotans do not like that," Unruh said.

They haven't been willing to ban it outright. Two years ago, when the state tried to outlaw nearly all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest, 56 percent voted against it.

But most of those who voted against the last measure would have supported it if it had included the rape and incest exceptions, said Patrick Lalley, managing editor of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls.

That has abortion rights advocates worried.

They say that if the South Dakota measure passes, it could have a domino effect, fueling efforts to pass abortion bans in other states.

"If this is passed in SD it will have a very significant effect on national politics," Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood for Minnesota and the Dakotas said.

Four other states tried to make abortion an issue this fall but only Colorado succeeded, putting an amendment on the ballot that would define a fertilized human egg as a person.

For Unruh, the ultimate goal is to reverse the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

"I believe the Supreme Court judges will see the information we have this time and Roe v. Wade will be over," Unruh said.

Opponents say that view is naïve.

"Leslee Unruh and others have this utopian view that if they ban abortion it will never happen," said Stoesz. "And that's just not true. It will happen; it's just that women will die from it."

Or, as the 18-year-old patient told CBS News, women will just go to a neighboring state where abortion is legal.

[mumu11]

iamdemocrat, do you realize that your argument just self destruct? If the state of Hawaii has the original COLB, whether or not it was the one shown by Obama, then it is proven that indeed Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States of America. You see, the original is always in the birth country.

[mumu11]

I''m having a problem with life and soul beginning at conception. You see, only 1/100 of conceptions result in actual pregnancy (the rest of the fertilized eggs failing nidification and being naturally flushed out). Doesn''t that make God the greatest abortionist?

[dbaecht]

All pro life nuts really are nothing more than domestic terrorist. They whine about a embryo or a early term fetus being killed, but they will blow up a womens clinic and kill innocent people.
How does that make any sense.

[dbaecht]

"I am curious. If life begins at conception, that means the fertilized egg has a soul? Which component contained the soul, the egg or the sperm? If it is the egg, then if it passes unfertilized out of the fallopian tube and the uterus, as it often does, have I killed a soul by not getting pregnant every time there is an egg?

Posted by catlady1412"

Good point and excellent question.

[kansas1946]

But for anti-abortion crusader Leslee Unruh, "One abortion is too many."
******************************

I believe this will be defeated and the above statement shows how oppressive these groups are to women.

[bjcone8559]

I am curious. If life begins at conception, that means the fertilized egg has a soul? Which component contained the soul, the egg or the sperm? If it is the egg, then if it passes unfertilized out of the fallopian tube and the uterus, as it often does, have I killed a soul by not getting pregnant every time there is an egg?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by catlady1412


MY GOD!!!!!

You have opened my eyes!! If it is the sperm thats contains the soul, then I, as a male, have committed mass murder many, many times... sometimes daily when I was a teenager!!!!!

[iamdemocrat]

(HONOLULU)(November 1, 2008) Internet powerhouse Andy Martin has ignited a firestorm in Hawai''i over Barack Obama''s bogus "original" birth certificate. Martin won a stunning victory Friday afternoon (October 31st) when the State of Hawai''i backed his assertion that there was an original, "typewritten, 1961" birth certificate, called a "Certificate of Live Birth" or "COLB" in Hawai''i, that no one has previously seen. Hawai''i officials retrieved and examined the document after Martin filed a lawsuit seeking access to the historic 1961 original.

Obama has falsely claimed to have placed the "original" on the Internet. Factcheck.org has falsely claimed to have seen this document and posted it on the Internet; that is not true. CNN has falsely ridiculed Martin.

Hawai''i officials have now refuted Obama''s false assertion.

Martin''s victory in Honolulu will roil the final weekend of the presidential campaign. Internet chatter is expected to explode as the issue moves to the front page over Saturday and Sunday. Swing voters may be swayed by the exposure that Obama has brazenly been lying to the American people. "We just lobbed a grenade into the final weekend of the presidential campaign," says Andy.

"I am ecstatic. I called Obama a liar. I called Factcheck.org ''ObamaLies.org.'' I said CNN was sloppy and lazy and wrong. And I was right. The State of Hawai''i has now backed me up.
-andy martin

[catlady1412]

I am only asking religious questions because that seems to be the argument, that abortion is murder. I can see how that could be, but I want to know the answers to my questions about God''s role in the abortion debate. What has He said about it, specifically? Does the word abortion or the procedure appear in the Bible anywhere? I know the biology mechanics of the actual procedure as I worked in health care and I see the inflammatory language and images that some posters are using to make a rather mundane procedure sound like a Holocaust, but I seek more information, not more emotion. No woman I know ever wanted an abortion or used it for birth control. One of them got the abortion because she and her husband were too poor and could barely support the daughter they had. Another was a teenager with strict parents and nowhere to go with a baby. They feared they had committed a sin, but they also felt they had no choice. I want some more concrete answers than just taking somebody else''s word for what God wants.

[catlady1412]

I am curious. If life begins at conception, that means the fertilized egg has a soul? Which component contained the soul, the egg or the sperm? If it is the egg, then if it passes unfertilized out of the fallopian tube and the uterus, as it often does, have I killed a soul by not getting pregnant every time there is an egg?

[dibs977]

The Republicans only care about one thing---making money for a few rich people and exploiting the rest of us. They tell you what you want to hear---so they can get elected. The real moral and religious issues are about all the children who have no access to health care due to Republican policies---and all other suffering caused by poor decisions in our war efforts. A sick child with no health care. That''s immoral. Vote Obama.