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Another Effort to Deny the People of South Dakota their Constitutional Right to Vote on Reproductive Rights and Decide at the Ballot Box - LDF Files Lawsuit

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Dakotans for Health

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After 18 Months of Intense Harassment, Life Defense Fund Files Desperate Lawsuit in Last-Ditch Attempt


June 14, 2024


Sioux Falls, SD…In a last-ditch effort to undermine the democratic process, the Life Defense Fund (LDF) has filed a lawsuit aiming to disenfranchise over 50,000 registered South Dakota voters who signed the Freedom Amendment petition to restore reproductive rights.  


“The Life Defense Fund (LDF) and their ‘decline to sign, anti-choice, anti-freedom’ campaign has relentlessly tried to impose their religious views on the people of South Dakota, defending a radical abortion ban that forces victims of rape and incest to carry to term, and women with dangerous problem pregnancies to endure unnecessary risks,” stated Rick Weiland, co-founder of Dakotans for Health and official sponsor of the Freedom Amendment.


“South Dakota’s total abortion ban imposes the beliefs of extreme right to life politicians

on the rest of us by force of law,” explained newly appointed Freedom Amendment Coalition Chair, Nancy Turbak. Our Freedom Amendment gives the people the chance to repeal that law and give women back the reproductive rights they had for 50 years,” she added. “The politicians and their lawyers know the people will vote for freedom, so they have gone to court to try to deny us both our right to vote and our right to choose our own health care. It really is as simple as that,” Turbak said. 


Dakotans for Health submitted 54,281 signatures to place an initiated amendment to overturn South Dakota’s abortion ban and restore the reproductive rights women had under the 1973 landmark decision, Roe versus Wade. Secretary of State Monae Johnson filed and certified the reproductive rights amendment on May 17th, qualifying it to be on the November ballot and letting the voter decide. Secretary Johnson determined a validation rate of 84.9%, 46,098 valid signatures, 11,081 more signatures than needed to meet the state’s 2024 initiated amendment requirement of 35,017.


“LDF has pulled out all the stops to try and deny the people the right to decide this issue at the ballot box. Eighteen months of bullying South Dakotans, ramming thru a ridiculous “signature withdrawal” law then pretending to be from the Secretary of State’s office and asking people to remove their signatures, the right to lifers’ campaign could not produce a single valid signature withdrawal petition affidavit,” Weiland said. “They claimed people were tricked into signing then went zero for 723 on the random sample trying to find a signer who was tricked.  If that does not give the lie to their false claims, and to this lawsuit, I don't know what will. They have thrown everything they could, and now the kitchen sink, to stop the voters from weighing in this November.  We are confident that the people of South Dakota are going to be able to make this decision, not the politicians, come this November,” Weiland concluded.




 Life Defense Fund (LDF) has filed a lawsuit aiming to disenfranchise South Dakota voters who signed the Freedom Amendment petition to restore reproductive rights. 


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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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