South Dakota RTL Betrays Name, Joins With Planned Parenthood & ACLU
SDRTL’s public hypocrisy earns rare public rebuke from Operation Rescue
Sioux Falls, SD – South Dakota Right To Life (SDRTL) has betrayed the innocent children that it once defended by joining with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU in active opposition to Measure 11, the proposed South Dakota ban on abortions that will be on the November ballot.
“We almost never publicly criticize other pro-life groups, but this time we cannot keep silent while South Dakota Right To Life actively works to ensure that as many babies as possible continue to be aborted in their state. They are out of step with nearly every credible pro-life group in the nation that has worked to support this abortion ban,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It’s time they changed their name to ‘South Dakota Right To Die.’”
In their most recent newsletter, SDRTL used hypocritical reasons for opposing Measure 11, stating:
South Dakota Right to Life opposes Initiative 11, the so-called abortion ban, not only because it fails to protect all life from conception to natural death, but more importantly because it names specific lives expendable, those conceived from rape or incest and those who threaten their mother’s health. We believe it is the wrong bill at the wrong time and that it is presumptuous to believe it will save over 95% of the babies now aborted in South Dakota. We encourage pro-lifers to instead channel their energies toward electing a pro-life president and pro-life representatives on both the state and national levels.
“Measure 11 was never meant to protect all life from conception to natural death. It was meant to save as many babies as possible by banning abortions except in the rarest of circumstances. It’s never the ‘wrong time’ to save a life, and there is nothing presumptuous about expecting people to obey the law,” said Newman. “One has to wonder why the SDRTL is so adamant about making sure every baby possible continues to die.”
In a referendum last year, South Dakota defeated a similar abortion ban that only provided for an exception to save the life of the mother. Measure 11 added exceptions for rape and incest, after polling data indicated that such exceptions would insure passage.
“Measure 11 is not making any life ‘expendable.’ It is saving every one it can under the circumstances. To say otherwise is hypocritical coming from a group that is willing to expend the lives of thousands of babies yearly by opposing Measure 11,” said Newman. “And the hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. They encourage their membership to instead invest their efforts in the McCain/Palin ticket, when McCain supports destructive human embryonic experimentation. By their logic, they are making the lives of human embryos ‘expendable.’”
“SDRTL needs to get out of bed with Planned Parenthood and rejoin the pro-life movement, before they get innocent blood on their hands.”
October 9th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I agree. Its like seeing a whole bunch of children drowning in a river and not rescuing even the ones close to the banks, that you could pull ashore because you can’t rescue ALL of them. So you let ALL of them DIE…isn’t it better to save ONE life rather than NONE?
October 10th, 2008 at 9:22 am
However, I understand SDRTL’s logic; they don’t want to establish a precedent that says life is expendable under certain conditions, like the circumstances under which it is conceived. Rape, birth defects, etc. always have been a loophole for anti-lifers to argue for abortion. After all, what is to stop anyone from simply crying “rape” when escorting a young mother to the abortion mill? Indeed, this was the very charade behind the original Roe v. Wade case.
I admire the integrity SDRTL is demonstrating, though I admit I don’t know whose position is more practicable. The forces of hell are great at driving bus loads of vulnerable young mothers through the loopholes of such things as Measure 11.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I have always wondered how they verify if someone has been raped. It seems that if they ok abortion for cases of rape then probably all women seeking abortions will lie and say they were raped. Do they verify the rape with the police? I can understand why they would not want the rape clause in the bill but then on the other hand, sometimes folks have to start small. This bill could be a stepping stone to end all abortion. I see both sides but am inclined to say support this bill. The rest of the country could follow.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Why is it that everyone wants to take someone whos been raped and probably in a bad state of mind and immediately rape her again by aborting her baby? Do they ever catch a rapist by destroying the evidence? Has any abortion clinic ever helped anyone convict a rapist? What help is given? A woman is vulnerable after a traumatic event and thats when someone would need more love and compassion than ever. You can’t throw a whole group of the most victimized to the wolves. Love them both, mother and child! Justice for them