SUMMER INTERNS:
VYFL.com wants some public affairs interns!
Get a feel for the political realm as a
VoteYesForLife.com Public Affairs intern. As an intern, you will provide
administrative help, aid with grassroots organizing/advocacy events, offer
community outreach, and other various tasks compatible with your skills and
interests. Applicants should have a strong interest in the political aspect of
the rights of the unborn.
On Friday, June 27, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
filed its opinion in Planned Parenthood et al v. Rounds et al, Alpha Center et al, Interveners. The
Court vacated a temporary injunction that had been issued by the trial court. This decision
requires abortion providers tell women, in writing, that the abortion procedure “will terminate the
life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.”
A VoteYesForLife.com volunteer recently returned from South Dakota Boys State in Aberdeen, sponsored by the American Legion, which was attended by about 400 juniors from across the state. During the event, the mock legislature (which included both a House and Senate and contained about 160 members) passed a bill nearly identical to Initiated Measure #11 by a substantial margin (2-1 in the Senate).
This is an encouraging sign that our state’s brightest youth are being raised to respect life, and also bodes well for our fortunes this fall, where many of these same young men will be voting for the first time.
CBS VISITS VYFL.COM
The CBS crew came to film at the VoteYesForLife.com office on Tuesday, May 27th for “The Early Show”. Volunteers were hard at work as usual! The staff grilled and prepared lunch to say thank you to the volunteers for all the hard work they have done for VoteYesForLife.com.
Our volunteers continue to help in shifting from petition gathering to beginning the campaign. The goal is to collect 200,000 pledges to VOTE YES on Initiated Measure #11 by September 1st. Please contact our office to get your petition card to make your pledge. (Then take some more for your friends and family!) We will be waiting for your call or visit!
A LETTER FROM VOTEYESFORLIFE.COM TO EVERYONE
Dear Friend,
By the Grace of God the
VoteYesforLife.com volunteer’s collected nearly 50,000
signatures from average South Dakotan’s to place Initiated
Measure #11 on the November ballot.
If you are one of those 50,000, thank
you!
Simply put, Initiated Measure #11 stops
abortions as birth control in South Dakota.
The South Dakota Department of Health
reported 748 abortions performed in 2006 alone. We are sure
that you will agree with us that 748 abortions in South
Dakota are horrifying and unacceptable.
Initiated Measure #11 was written by a
team of committed lawyers including Attorney General Larry
Long, Representative Roger Hunt, Rory King and others whose
singular goal is to reduce the number of abortions in South
Dakota.
The passage of Initiated Measure #11
could result in the reduction of 98% of abortions in South
Dakota.
Undoubtedly, you will remember the 2006
Vote Yes for Life campaign. Polling during that
campaign showed that a majority of South Dakota voters would
have supported the 2006 measure if it had included
exceptions to prohibiting abortion for rape, incest and to
preserve the life and health of the mother.
South Dakota voters are fair people.
The voters told us what they would approve and Initiated
Measure #11 provides it to them. The petition signed
by nearly 50,000 ordinary South Dakotans was titled in bold
black lettering:
An
Act to Protect the Lives of Unborn Children, and the
Interest and Health of
Pregnant Mothers, by prohibiting abortions except in cases
where the
MOTHER’S LIFE OR HEALTH IS AT RISK, AND IN CASES OF RAPE AND
INCEST
SD House 2008
Thomas J Brunner
Thomas J. Deadrick
Mary Glenski
Gordon K. Howie
Roger W. Hunt
Gary L. Jerke
Kathy Miles
Paul Nelson
Kristi Noem
Al Novstrup
David Novstrup
Val Rausch
Larry Rhoden
Manny Steele
Don Van Etten
Keri K. Weems
Mark K. Willadsen
SD Senate 2008
Gene G. Abdallah
Jerry Apa
Jason M. Gant
Frank J. Kloucek
Ryan Maher
Kenneth McNenny
Dennis Schmidt
WE'RE ON THE BALLOT!
Thank you, Thank you,
Thank you! To all the pro-life people of South Dakota who
made it all happen.
YOU DID IT! We will be Initiated Measure 11 on the ballot.
To God be the glory!
Let it be written in history that the pro-life
people of South Dakota obtained:
...one of the largest number of petitions
ever gathered for any initiative in SD history.
(almost
50,000 with another 8,000 coming in after the
petitions were delivered to Pierre.)
…one of the highest percentage of valid signatures of
any ballot initiative in SD history.
And it was accomplished:
...In two and a half months in one of the coldest
winters in decades.
...With a 100% volunteer effort.
...With no out of
state people gathering signatures.
We are so appreciative of the time and efforts you have
put into gathering all of these petitions. May you be
richly blessed for everything you have done “for the
least of these.” What you can do now is invest in the
lives of children. Leave a legacy by helping fund this
campaign. Let it be known by your children and
grandchildren that you stood in the gap. Give in honor
of a special child in your life.
The face of South Dakota - farmers, ranchers, chiefs,
doctors, nurses, teachers, veterans, businessmen, and
mothers.
Back Row, L to
R: Milton Opland, Baltic, Dr. Scott Ecklund,
Brandon, Dwight Beukelman, Sioux Falls, Karen Nelson,
Elkton, Bill Kortemeyer, Canton, Bill Connor, Chester. Middle Row, L to R: Gabriel Medicine
Eagle, Winner, Jerri McKinley, Sioux Falls, Stan Pickard,
Tea, Linda McInroy, Dell Rapids, Sadie Kortemeyer, Canton,
JD Amdahl, Salem, Tim Amdahl, Salem, Steve Hickey, Sioux
Falls. Front Row L to R: Jeff Hayes, Sioux
Falls, Lois Anderson, Madison, Mary Glenski, Sioux Falls,
Val Pentico, Sioux Falls, Lori Hoff, Sioux Falls.
Bill Kortemeyer,
(back row, 5th person)
“I am a maintenance man as well as a Vietnam veteran.
What drives me most in this campaign is the memory of when
I came home from Vietnam and I was called a “baby killer.”
In the same era, the Supreme Court opened up the flood gates
to baby killing via Roe v. Wade.”
Linda
McInroy,
(middle row, 4th person)
“Abortion is wrong no matter what your political
affiliation or what your religion may be. If you believe in
the teaching of the Bible and consider yourself to be a
Christian you will know that the killing of God’s creation
is wrong. If you do not believe in God’s word, you are
still responsible for the death of over 36,000 babies in
this state since Roe v. Wade.”
Pamela and
Milton Opland,
(Milton pictured, back row, 1st person)
“I think that the high suicide rate in our kids, crime
and alcohol usage is because we tell them they are not worth
anything. Our generation allowed this devaluation of life
to happen. So many people spend their whole life at war;
they never get to the hope. It is time for this generation
to shine the light of hope into the broken hearts of those
who are involved in abortion, it affects everyone’s life.
We have to stop the next one from happening.”
Dr. Scott
Ecklund,
(back row, 2nd person)
“With advent of the ultrasound, there is no question in
my mind that life begins at conception. And as a physician,
it is my job to stand up for life.”
Lori Hoff,
(front row, 5th person)
“After the number of signatures was announced, while we
were singing to “God be the Glory,” I felt the presence of
God so clearly like I never have before and could almost see
Him along with the angels rejoicing in Heaven!”
Jerri
McKinley,
(middle row, 2nd person)
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Jeff Hayes,
(front row, 1st person)
“I was born and raised in Sioux Falls and have enjoyed
the pleasures of living in South Dakota. I have found that
South Dakota is a place where people care about one
another. In our state most would agree that life and family
are to be valued. In our families, each family member is
highly treasured including the unborn! It is with pleasure
that I, along with thousands of other South Dakotans, speak
up, stand up, and join together to announce to our beloved
state and to our precious nation that life in the womb is to
be honored and respected, not devalued and destroyed.”
The petitions are delivered to the Secretary of
State's office in three fire-proof safes on March
31, 2008. Previously, they were housed in safe
deposit boxes in various banks in Sioux Falls.
Dr. Allen Unruh
on VoteYesForLife.com: "We are
coming back with what Planned Parenthood demanded in their last
ad and we’re coming back with what the people said they wanted.
Now Planned Parenthood is saying 'Oh, that’s still not good
enough.'"
Dr. Allen Unruh on
Supreme Court reversals: “The Supreme Court has reversed itself
200 times in the nation’s history…one hundred years after the
Civil War we still had a “separate but equal” doctrine…the
Plessy v. Ferguson case challenged that even though the courts
weren’t right, they didn’t have the money, they didn’t have the
public sentiment, but it was wrong. You can’t have separate but
equal, and the same way with the unborn when Roe v. Wade said
the unborn weren’t human beings until they’re outside the womb.
One is based on the color of skin, the other is based on size.”
Dr. Allen Unruh on
Viability: “There are only four differences
between a born child and an unborn child. The unborn is
smaller. Is size the thing that makes a person human?
If that’s true—Shaquille O’Neal is more human than me and
you—He’s bigger! Second, is level of development—an
unborn is not as developed as a newborn, but a newborn is not as
developed as a three year old. A three year old is not as
developed as a twelve year old, a twelve year old as an eighteen
year old. We’re all in different stages of development. Is
that what makes us human? Really, not. Next is
environment. As you go inside the womb to outside the
womb, you change location. Is that what makes you human? When
you go from your house to your place of work, are you less
human? Or fly from Chicago to New York? Where you’re at is not
what makes you human either. And last is dependency.
An unborn child is dependent upon the nourishment of the
mother. Just like a diabetic is dependent upon insulin. Just
like a person on kidney dialysis dependent on outside
nourishment. Is a diabetic less human than you and me?
Dependency is not what makes us human either. Now other than
those four reasons, I would like to ask Ms. Murschel, what other
reasons would she give that would make a person not a human
being inside the womb?”
THERE IS NO
PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN
SIOUX FALLS WITH THEIR OUT-OF-STATE ABORTION DOCTORS.
Planned Parenthood and its offshoot “Healthy Families” are
attempting to mislead the voters of South Dakota.
They claim that the carefully drafted Abortion Bill that
will appear on the November ballot will interfere with the
physician-patient relationship. This is a false claim that
voters should see through.
FIRST, this Bill prohibits abortions used as birth
control. Those abortions are only done at Planned
Parenthood’s facility in Sioux Falls where 98% of all
abortions in South Dakota are performed.
THOSE ABORTIONS ARE PERFORMED ONLY BY ABORTION
DOCTORS FROM OUT OF STATE.
There is no physician-patient relationship. The out of
state abortion doctors are flown into our state one day a
week and flown back to their home state later that same day.
The only time these out of state physicians ever see our
South Dakota women is in the procedure room, and only for
five to nine minutes.
THESE OUT OF STATE DOCTORS NEVER SEE THE WOMEN
BEFORE THE OPERATION OF AFTER.
In fact, the women pay for the procedure and sign a
consent form without ever seeing a doctor. The romanticized
concept that there is some kind of physician-patient
relationship between the physician and the patient is total
myth.
Abortion doctors from another state fly into our state to
perform abortions without ever seeing the woman before she
consents to the abortion. Obviously, none of these
abortions are performed for health reasons because the
surgery is scheduled by non-medical, untrained, low-level
employees.
The November Initiative
was started by South Dakota residents, for South Dakota
residents to advance South Dakota values.
The pro-abortionists who import New York City values to
our state, are attempting to distort these facts by
criticizing the fact that prominent out of state pro-life
people of influence and character have endorsed what the
people of South Dakota have done. These people of stature
have reviewed the South Dakota Statute and have found it is
well crafted and that it constitutes solid law. The people
of South Dakota post their endorsements of our work with
great pride.
My name is
Bill Connor. My story entitled, “I WAS AN EXCEPTION”,
appeared in many newspapers and other publications
throughout South Dakota in the last Vote-Yes-For-Life
campaign. It was my hope that by telling my story of my
mother’s rape would personalize the issue with a name
and face that some might recognize.
You see, I was conceived in rape and my life is my
precious gift. Without life, there is no story, no
love, children, friends, family or precious memories.
Today in the business of abortion, rape is simply a
legal matter, that current law, and public opinion,
deems the most extreme response as acceptable.
Thankfully, my Grandpa’s Catholic faith did not find
this acceptable, and provided my mother the support she
needed at our most vulnerable
moment in time.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect
world. My mother was very young and made some
bad choices, and my childhood was far from normal. Her
abusive relationships made neglect, abuse and poverty
routine indignities that seemed normal to me as a kid.
Only as an adult, did I come to recognize how vulnerable
children are to the ways of the world. Thank God that He
inspired my Grandpa, some foster families, teachers and
coaches to light another path for me to stay in school,
excel in sports and inherit a new beginning to serve Him.
I am sure that many reading this article were not born at
the perfect time in the perfect situation, with perfect
parents who were able to meet every material need. But
like the living weed sprouting from the crack in the
sidewalk, we can bloom where we’re planted.
In a perfect world, with perfect people,
we wouldn’t need a government. However, to maintain a
safe and functional society there is obviously a need to
govern, and to be governed. Our political system,
imperfect as it is, is the best method we’ve devised to
manage America’s governmental responsibilities. It is
this process, the politics of big money and self interest,
that has corrupted the debate, confused the uninformed, and
has obfuscated the truth to justify a modern political
agenda. Government needs to be “governed” too, and it
is “we the people’s” responsibility to define government’s
role, no matter the what the issue may be at the time.
I want the people of South Dakota to know
that I am unequivocally pro-life no matter how bad the
circumstances. Last year, the Yes campaign efforts to
save all unborn life was defeated by Planned Parenthoods
argument that the bill, previously enacted by the South
Dakota legislature, was too “extreme” because it did not
allow for the exception of rape and incest. Even
though these pregnancies are a very small percentage of the
total number of abortions, this was the basis for their
opposition. Imagine, if you will, telling the 1500
passengers on-board the Titanic ocean liner that since the
ship isn’t equipped with enough life boats for everyone, no
one can board the “Yes for Life” boats!
I recently learned that the Yes-For-Life
organization is supporting a new bill that clearly allows
for the rarest of exceptions. And, of course, I
immediately said YES. Why, you ask, since I was the
product of a rape, can I support this bill? Because,
this will allow virtually every passenger on board the “ship
of life” to live. And, not surprisingly, Planned
Parenthood again stands in opposition. This is real
life politics, requiring the inspired to rise and be heard.
So don’t be confused, nor discouraged, this debate is
contentious and often without reason, but silence is no
longer an option. I have no political agenda, and
being self-employed sometimes can cause financial
consequences for taking a stand. But, like most
Americans, we stand, and have stood, for the sanctity and
dignity of human life, everywhere in the world.
Today, my desire to live a full and
abundant life is again threatened, not by abortion, but by
cancer. And again, I am considering every option
available to save my life. The voyage is precious, and
much too short no matter how long each of us lives. I
desperately urge everyone who has read my story in the past
to let your friends know that Bill Connor from Dell
Rapids, is 100% behind this current Vote-Yes-For-Life
initiative. And when I meet the Lord and he asks me
the big question, “What did you do for the least of these my
brethren?” I want to be able to tell him that I too stood
tall for the most pressing issue of our time – the killing
of God’s Holy image by the modern holocaust known as
abortion.
If so inspired, please contact everyone
you know, talk about this to your friends and share my
story. I am confident that if we all do something, we
will all be rewarded in time, God’s time.
