South Dakota

Pretty Bird Woman House, a refuge for abused women on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, has been a focus of some considerable blog effort of late (see, for example, here). This women's shelter had once been saved by the liberal blogsphere, but was then vandalized and was facing losing its lease. The liberal blogsphere stepped up to bat again. The goal was to buy the house outright for the person who ran the shelter and to provide a solid security system. It was estimated that the blogsphere would have to raise $70,000 to accomplish this. The timing was critical because Pretty Bird Woman house had received a Federal grant...which could only be accepted if the shelter still existed.

As of 12/30/07 I learned that the liberal blogsphere raised upwards of $80,000 to establish Pretty Bird Woman House as a lasting shelter for abused women. This was quite an accomplishment and Culture Kitchen played its own small role in it. To those who gave, or even just spread the word, THANK YOU! This was a true mitzveh accomplished thanks to hundreds of people from all over the country.

Of course, I never feel like our job is done. I am hoping that now that we have saved Pretty Bird Woman House and made it a lasting place of refuge, we can do the same for the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center on the Yankton Sioux Reservation.

Today is a big push to try and save Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. I have brought up the Pretty Bird Woman House Woman's Shelter before when I discussed the horrific Amnesty International report on the high incidence of rapes of Native American women by outsiders who seldom get procecuted. This shelter's sad story has continued. It was vandalized and is not being sold off. This will leave many women on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation with no support system. On Daily Kos a fundraiser is ongoing to raise enough money to buy the property and set it up to be a safe and secure women's shelter again.

I am asking you to help out. I donated $100. Some are donating as much as $500. This is pure, old fashioned good works in keeping with the holiday season.

Bottom line is, this shelter has in essence been shut down by lack of funds and vandalism. But the netroots are on the verge of saving it by helping buy it outright. The shelter has been recently awarded a Federal grant which can keep it going...but only if it has a place and it won't have a place if we don't help them buy the property.

Here is the background and scoop sent to me by a fellow blogger working on this:

About Pretty Bird Woman House

The shelter was founded in memory of Ivy Archambault, whose Lakota name translates to Pretty Bird Woman. In 2001, Pretty Bird Woman was kidnapped, raped and beaten to death. Her sister, Jackie Brown Otter, decided that something had to be done for other victims, to put an end to this nightmare.

Planned Parenthood is fighting the South Dakota ban on abortion and they are asking you to host or attend a potluck fundraiser for choice.

Potluck House Parties will be held across the country to raise money and build awareness for the campaign to defeat the abortion ban in South Dakota.

Sign up to host a Potluck for South Dakota with your friends and family!

Use their online tools to create, manage and promote your potluck.

The host whose potluck raises the most money will win a Newman’s Own gift basket and a trip to New York City to meet Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards!

Or you can find a potluck near you to attend.

[via TomPaine.com - Pushing Back On Roe]:

Democrats do need to understand that the pro-choice majority encompasses a variety of views. Many who want to preserve reproductive freedom are also troubled by the large number of abortions performed in this country. Abortion rates are far lower in Europe (due in part, to superior health care systems delivering birth-control services).

But Democrats should reject the conservative proposition that freedom to obtain abortion causes the high abortion rates in America. Abortion rates have actually been declining since the mid-1980s. And they would be even lower today but for a falling percentage of poor American women with access to contraception, according to a newstudy from the Guttmacher Institute. The study found that, in 2001, 14 percent of poor women were not using contraception, compared with 8 percent in 1994. The institute blames the resulting rise in this group's rate of unintended pregnancies on cuts in government family planning programs.

So when Hillary Clinton and other Democrats call for reducing the number of abortions in America, they strike a chord among many basically pro-choice people who want abortion kept legal but not regarded as casual. Many of these voters support Republicans for cultural reasons. Democrats can win them back.

[via KELOLAND.COM: News, Weather and Sports for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa]:

Those who oppose legislation that would make most abortions illegal in South Dakota have indicated that they have collected about 10,000 signatures so far to put the issue on the ballot.

It'll take nearly 17,000 names to qualify for the November ballot. The deadline to turn those signatures over to the secretary of state is June 19th.

Petition carriers were out in force over the weekend in Sioux Falls.

If the necessary signatures are obtained and verified, the proposed law will not go into effect as scheduled on July first, providing voters with the final say on the issue.

(Word of this diary seems to have reached this site before I had the chance to post it...thanks Liza!)

Almost immediately after Bush’s two Supreme Court nominees were approved, the final assault on a woman’s right to choice began. And South Dakota was where the right wing chose to start, though many other states are poised to follow. South Dakota is the front line in the battle for women’s rights right now. This is something that needs to be a major focus of our attention.

This comes from the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, a coalition co-founded by Cecelia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux nation, and various progressive organizations in South Dakota:

On March 6 of this year, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed into law the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation – a total ban on abortions. Women will no longer be in control of their reproductive choices. The law is so extreme that even women who are victims of rape and incest will have no options available to them. Women whose health is in danger will no longer be able to make their own health care decisions. Doctors will go to jail. And South Dakota will spend millions in court battles for years to come.

After I find the father of my future children (or decide to adopt) and welcome a baby girl into my life, she shall be named Cecilia Fire Thunder. Not only it is the coolest name ever but, DAMN! This woman is living testament to the fire and thunder of her name.

[via Cecilia Fire Thunder, Ogala Sioux President vows to build Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic on own land | BlogSheroes]:

"When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother's life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of "simple rape," there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli's description of rape as "simple." He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by "simple rape."

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women."

March 8 is International Women's Day, and the Leader of the Free World has declared an end to sexual exploitation of women, free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, it's a miracle. And if he can't change the whole world by executive order, today he's at least making a stern example of those South Dakota sex traffickers and exploiters of women and young girls?

Off to tell my teen-aged daughter the great news that it's morning in America and starting today, she'll be judged on the content of her character, not her uterus. . .

From the festive Voice of America holiday story:

"America will help women stand up for their freedom no matter where they live."

The president says his administration is working with other nations to end sexual exploitation and the human trafficking of women and young girls . . .