Dakotans for Health submits more than 55,000 signatures for Freedom Amendment to restore Roe v. Wade
In a significant move to re-establish reproductive rights in South Dakota, a coalition of concerned citizens filed petitions containing over 55,000 signatures requesting the inclusion of a Freedom Amendment on the November ballot on Wednesday.
This proposed constitutional amendment will restore the right to choose abortion, particularly in cases of rape, incest, and dangerous problem pregnancies.
There is a fundamental injustice in current South Dakota laws that compel victims of rape to undergo unwanted pregnancies.
We pay to advertise to the nation that “freedom works here.” Freedom is not working here when government forces a woman who has been raped to give birth. The Freedom Amendment will restore women’s personal freedom and overturn South Dakota’s blanket abortion ban by writing into our constitution the protections contained in the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
It just is not right that a woman who has been raped is required by South Dakota law to give birth. By reverting to the core principles of Roe v. Wade women who have suffered rape, incest, or who face a dangerous problem pregnancy will regain the freedom to choose, or not to choose, abortion.
The Freedom Amendment is about empowering individuals to make deeply personal decisions about their own bodies and futures. Every woman deserves the freedom to choose whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy. This amendment restores those Roe v. Wade rights, nothing more, nothing less.
We are celebrating the overwhelming support garnered by the petition (a flier for it, from the Dakotans for Health website, is seen above), symbolized by the 55,000 signatures collected by nearly 500 South Dakotans demanding a referendum on the Freedom Amendment.
Today, we proudly present this petition to the Secretary of State, affirming our commitment to letting the voters, not the politicians, determine the course of reproductive rights in our state.
Dakotans for Health is an advocacy group committed to promoting public health policies and initiatives that empower South Dakota residents. By championing the Freedom Amendment, Dakotans for Health seeks to ensure that every individual has the right to make personal decisions about their own bodies and futures.
Rick Weiland of Sioux Falls, a former aide to Tom Daschle during his congressional career, ran for Congress as a Democrat in 1996 and 2002 and the Senate in 2014, has been instrumental in spearheading efforts to advance the Freedom Amendment and champion initiatives aimed at empowering citizens to shape critical policies through democratic processes.
