GLOBlog

April 03, 2006

Fire Thunder Challenges South Dakota Abortion Ban

“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.”

Cecilia Fire Thunder, Giago: Oglala Sioux president on state abortion law, Indianz.com, 3/21/06

When Gov. Michael Rounds signed HB1215, the law that will ban all abortions in South Dakota as of July 1 (including those procedures for victims of rape and incest, excepting those that could potentially save the mother's life), he said he "fully expected a legal challenge." He probably didn't expect that the challenge would come from Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux tribe.

The statement aroused quite a bit of interest among LiveJournalers after kathrynt proposed a fundraising campaign to support the proposed clinic. Blogger tezliana did some digging and emailed Planned Parenthood of South Dakota for a statement.

Things are unfolding quickly in South Dakota, so this information may change at any time, but we are not currently planning to establish a clinic on tribal land. While we appreciate Ms. Thunder's support, I believe she made the comment prior to speaking with us about a clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Mark Fredrickson, Email from Planned Parenthood this morning, re: South Dakota, Liana's Little Jungle, 3/23/06

When Cecilia used the name Planned Parenthood, she used the name in reference to an abortion clinic in general. She fully intends to donate land so that a clinic can be built....You can't possibly expect a victim of violence to raise a 100% healthy child.

Vonnie Bush, personal assistant to President Fire Thunder, in a conversation with Open Source, 3/24/06

American Indian women are sexually assaulted at a 3.5 times higher rate than women in all other racial groups. Given these numbers and her background counselling rape victims as a nurse, Fire Thunder says she had to take a stand.

Rather than having our daughters and our women have to drive several states away, as if they were criminals, to protect their own health, we wanted to have a viable option closer to their homes, until this law is struck down. We intend to take the lead to make sure that we live up to our constitution and our own ideals, and respect our female citizens.

Cecilia Fire Thunder, in an email to Open Source, 3/24/06

Could plans for a clinic on tribal lands actually go through? Will this move test the limits of tribal sovereignty? South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long says the state might be able to enforce HB1215 in Indian County "but only against non-Indian women who receive abortions by non-Indian doctors." Could this bring down the law that would bring down Roe?

This is not a matter of an assertion of tribal sovereignty - we already have that. Nor is it a matter of confronting Governor Rounds or the State of South Dakota, it is a matter of upholding federal law, as it now exists. I believe that the South Dakota law banning abortion will be struck down as unconstitutional. We are making it clear that we support the constitutional right of women all over this country, and particularly here in South Dakota, to make their own decisions and their own choices regarding their own health.

Cecilia Fire Thunder, in an email to Open Source, 3/24/06

Posted by Greta Pemberton at 11:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 09, 2006

Islam, Cartoons ...and New Zealand?

Muslims all around the world are pissed. Pissed at those people who are publishing irrelevent pictures of our prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). These people, who are ignorant and pathetic include Kiwis here as well....NZ is the latest country who will publish these pictures after many weeks of silence, pathetic losers. I'm going to loathe Kiwis even more and would pick a fight with anyone who calls me a terrorist or mocks my religion. Anyway, I was PROUD to be amongst the many muslims protesting down Queen Street here in Auckland City today.

Asad, Protest X-Rated

I hope you understand that I am not the type of person who accepts violence in order to get a message across, such as the burning buildings etc. This is why I joined the Auckland protests as they were peaceful.

Asad Khalid Naseem, from an email to Open Source on 2/7/06

Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, the U.S., Iceland, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Poland.

Oh, and now New Zealand.

War-on-Terror hawks might say New Zealand dropped us as soon as things got rough (they officially opposed military action in Iraq); then again, New Zealanders might say they supported us when they thought our actions fair (i.e. in Afghanistan).

Regardless, it may seem out of character that three NZ newspapers, The Dominion Post, The Nelson Mail, and The Press printed the Danish cartoons as a free-speech protest. In separate statements, editors of all three newspapers defended New Zealand's right to know "what all the fuss was about," and defended their duty to "keep readers fully informed". Only the editor of The Dominion Post has claimed solidarity with the European newspapers that ran the cartoons last week.

Not all of New Zealand agreed.

The simple fact here is that, freedom of speech is not absolute in Europe, there is precedence where it is restricted. So in that sense, these European countries do not have the same values as New Zealand (as far as I know denying Holocaust or any other type of speech does not get you prison time in NZ). Publishing cartoons that insult members of a major religion does more harm to the precious freedom of speech than good.

Berkay Mollamustafaoglu, "Your say: Mohammed cartoons," The Dominion Post, February 7, 2006

As an expat Kiwi, I was proud of our small country's ideals and sensible culture that embraced diversity, and which was so highly thought of overseas. I question the wisdom of a NZ newspaper which follows the lead of a Europe that is often filled with racism, led by greater powers, and breeds division. Respect, and tolerance for one another's differences is the essence of peace. Publishing the cartoons was not a lesson in freedom of the press, but a tactic for selling more newspapers to the detriment of our wonderful country's reputation and the backlash it will most likely cause to our exports. My head hangs in shame.

Yvonne Xygalas, "Your say: Mohammed cartoons," The Dominion Post, February 7, 2006

Though local Islamic leaders are preaching peace, NZ student blogger Asad Khalid Naseem -- quoted above -- was one of at least 700 protestors in Auckland who marched on Sunday. Asad is a member of a small but growing population of Pakistani and Indian expats who have been settling in New Zealand since the 1970s. Recent numbers estimate the Muslim population in New Zealand at close to 6,000. One in eight marched in Auckland.

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