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The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families is a grassroots coalition made up of groups and individuals throughout the State of South Dakota who are committed to fighting attempts to ban abortion in our state. The bipartisan group is co-chaired by two former legislators and educators - Jan Nicolay, a Republican and Elaine Roberts, a Democrat. The coalition includes Pastors for Moral Choices, Medical Professionals, Democracy in Action, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the South Dakota Advocacy Network for Women, the ACLU and hundreds of other volunteers and community leaders from all walks of life.

SDCHF originally formed in 2006 in response to an abortion ban signed into law by Governor Mike Rounds. In less than 10 weeks, the organization successfully collected more than twice the number of petition signatures required to refer that abortion ban to a vote of the people using an all volunteer force. With the help of our volunteers and supporters throughout the state, we defeated the abortion ban by a wide margin - 11 points!

In 2008, our opponents returned with another abortion ban that included nuanced exception language. Despite their attempts to moderate the abortion ban, South Dakotans rejected Initiated Measure 11 by a 10 point margin.

The decision to have an abortion is profoundly difficult for a woman and her family. This complex, personal decision should be between a woman, her family, God and her doctor. No woman makes this decision without intense soul-searching and consultation with family and trusted loved ones.

Abortion is already rare in South Dakota and only performed after carefully considering all options. But banning abortion would put the ultimate decision in the hand of the Government in virtually every instance. Families need to be making these complex decisions, not the Government. The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families supports common sense efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies and, thus, reduce the demand for abortion.

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