Acts of Vandalism Reported In South Dakota Pro-Life Campaign
November 3, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Americans on both sides of the pro-life debate will be watching the results from South Dakota on Tuesday as voters go to the polls to decide if virtually all abortions will be banned in that state. The latest polling conducted by the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls indicates 52 percent of 800 likely voters will vote on Tuesday against the abortion ban, while 42 percent said they agree with the ban. Six percent are still undecided. The VoteYesForLife.com campaign is on behalf of Referred Law 6. The campaign was organized to support HB 1215, the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act in South Dakota.
Leslee Unruh, with VoteYesForLife.com, says she knows the campaign against abortions in South Dakota has made a lot of progress because of the increased acts of vandalism. She says that over the past few weeks hundreds of campaign signs have been vandalized and crosses placed in front of churches have been either spray painted or damaged. "They've painted red coat hangers on the front of the signs or they've written 'no' over the signs or they've torn down the signs," she says.
Despite the acts of vandalism, Unruh and her staff of mostly volunteers remain undeterred. "We'll put up a sign and the next day it'll be down again or it'll be damaged, but we keep putting them right back where they were." While authorities investigate the vandalism, supporters of the abortion ban have come forward with financial support. "We had a man give us $75,000 for the signs and he just keeps buying more and more and people keep replacing them and we just keep putting them back up in the same locations," she says
Unruh says those opposed to the abortion ban have also targeted churches around South Dakota. "One pastor had almost 25 signs vandalized and they put up crosses to show the number of babies that had died in South Dakota and they were spray painted red and vandalized," she says. Unruh believes each time the media covers a story of the acts of vandalism, it helps the pro-life cause. "I think its going to hurt them on the day we vote. I think people are going to remember that, and the undecided voters are going to say this is wrong."
Volunteers with VoteYesForLife.Com have been energized in the last few days of the campaign when former South Dakota abortionist Dr. Patti Giebink gave her support for the abortion ban, even agreeing to make a TV commercial that is being shown all over the state.
Unruh says the campaign has been changed the hearts of many in South Dakota. "There was a former newscaster who had been very, very, very liberal and had gone after me personally years ago," she shares, "and she just did a commercial, too, and she's had a total heart change."
Pro-lifers all over the country have been closely watching the strategy behind the campaign to outlaw virtually all abortions in South Dakota -- and Unruh feels that the tactic is part of that success. "We now look at abortion in a different way," she says. "We look at and reach out to women hurt by abortion because abortion does hurt the woman, too. We've tried something new in this country -- let's put a new face on who this really is and what its all about: hurting the woman. And that's what this campaign is all about, and we've done that."
Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has also given her support to the Vote Yes on Referred Law 6 in South Dakota. "Vote as if your life depends upon it," says King in a statement. "Someone's life does, and be sure to be encouraged that you are not alone in your desire to see an end to the senseless violence against the most helpless of our brothers and sisters." King's statement continued with this encouragement: "Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to care for the least of these.
"We can demonstrate our compassion by voting pro-life candidate in the upcoming elections." King's statement concluded: "Please, I urge you, do not be distracted by political rhetoric because the most pressing civil rights issue of this season is the protection of the lives of the pre-born."
Unruh remains optimistic about the campaign despite some of the most recent newspaper polls saying she has seen other polling results that show the ballot much closer than the 52-to-42 percent from the Argus Leader newspaper poll. Unruh is also encouraged by the number of women who have come to South Dakota to volunteer for the VoteYesForLife.com campaign, saying they understand the national significance of Tuesday's results.
John Clemens, an occasional contributor to AgapePress, is a veteran Christian journalist based in Texas.
