NAF Staff in the Field: South Dakota Abortion Ban Referenda – Update 8

Staff members from the National Abortion Federation (NAF) are on the ground in South Dakota campaigning to repeal South Dakota’s abortion ban. Please read our blog this week to read our staff’s reports “from the field” about this closely watched ballot initiative and learn more about the “No on Six” campaign.

We had a rally in front of the federal court house to get voters and the Sioux Falls Community energized. Jan Nicolay, co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families , spoke out against the ban and invited others to do the same. Several community members came forward to express their opposition, including a young pregnant woman, a mother of four, a union leader, a high-school student, and a medical student at a local university. Even the arrival of anti-choice protesters couldn’t dampen the energy of the crowd, which filled the entire sidewalk in front of the courthouse. Afterward, we joined about 30 other volunteers with signs and marched up to the busiest Sioux Falls intersections to wave our signs and cheer against the abortion ban. Our supporters honked and cheered as they drove by in their cars during the busy lunch hour. After two hours outside in the chilly South Dakota wind, our fingers were numb but our spirits were high, and we returned to the office to continue our efforts to get out the vote with phone calls and mailings.