Oh, this has some serious entertainment value (emphasis added):
Giago: Oglala Sioux president on state abortion law
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
"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.”
All of this is, of course, based on the idea of "tribal sovereignty." And what exactly does that entail? Brace yourself:
GEORGE W. BUSH: " Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign. You're a -- you're a -- you have been given sovereignty and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore, the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.
This should be fun. Pass the popcorn.
4 comments:
The Oglala Sioux better hope they don't have WMDs, though. We know how that affects relationships between sovereign entities...
Wow. No Canadian would ever toss around the word 'sovereign' so carelessly.
Now that I think about it, neither would anybody who actually knew what the word meant.
Well, that was the argument that allowed casinos on reservations, wasn't it? Reservations are supposed to be sovereign land. There's been alot of talk over at Alternet, Feministing, Feminite, etc regarding the proposed PP clinic. I can't find it atm, but there was a link to send them support for financing the clinic.
Feministe, even.
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