FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Press Office
Dakotans for Health
605-610-8146
Restore Roe v Wade - Statement from Rick Weiland, Campaign Chair and Sponsor:
May 16, 2024
Sioux Falls, SD...Two long years after we began, the South Dakota Secretary of State today certified that the people of South Dakota, not the politicians in Pierre, will be the ones to decide whether to restore Roe v Wade as the law of South Dakota.
After an organized Decline to Sign campaign mercilessly harassed our young petition circulators, we are on the ballot with over 11,000 more valid signatures than required.
After Right to Life’s ‘Life Defense Fund’ shoved their lies in the faces of citizens trying to sign our petition, we are on the ballot with over 54,281 submitted signatures.
Even after the so-called ‘Petition Integrity Committee’ tried to trick petition signers by implying they were from the Secretary of State’s office and pressuring them to take their names off our petition, we have 46,098 valid signatures, and they have exactly 19 yet-to-be-validated requests for removal.
If there is anyone out there who still wonders whether abortion rights will be on the ballot in South Dakota this Fall, today is your answer.
Yes, today says, the people want women, not politicians, to have the right to decide.
Yes, today says, nobody should be required by law to carry the result of rape to term or to have their doctor be too afraid to give them the reproductive health care they require.
So today the fight begins. We hope there can be a civil discussion about deeply held moral beliefs leading to a reasoned decision balancing the rights of us all. That is democracy.
We must be prepared for a lavishly financed Right to Life campaign to smear our Abortion Rights amendment with lies about its effect. That is today’s world.
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About Dakotans for Health:
Dakotans for Health is a grassroots organization focused on healthcare and protecting the democratic process. In 2024, our petitions to restore abortion rights in South Dakota and repeal the regressive state sales tax on groceries were certified and approved by the Secretary of State. Vote YES on Amendment G and IM 28! The organization was also instrumental in the successful 2022 campaign to expand Medicaid coverage to 52,000 low-income South Dakotans. Dakotans for Health is dedicated to ensuring all South Dakotans have access to the care they need, no matter who they are, what they look like, or how much money they have.
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