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Across the Country, Americans Reject Anti-Abortion Ballot Initiatives!

Once Again, SD Abortion Ban Is Defeated!
For the second time in two years, voters in South Dakota rejected a ballot initiative that would have banned abortion in nearly all circumstances. Despite an intimidating atmosphere, a group of ministers called Pastors for Moral Choices publicly opposed the ban. RCRC was honored to assist them in running an ad campaign to assure people of faith that there were good reasons to vote against the ban. What these ministers did took courage, and RCRC wholeheartedly supports their actions. 

Our ad campaign (right) ran the week before the election. Many thanks to all those who contributed financially to make it possible to run the ad more often - and to be sure that people of faith know they can and should oppose the ban. 

Reverend Marcia Sietstra of the South Dakota group Pastors for Moral Choices reports:

Four months ago, polling indicated that this ban was almost sure to pass, because a ban with exceptions for rape and incest appealed to so many South Dakotans. 

   There was an even more massive push in the churches than two years ago, when the ban was first put on the ballot; it was well-organized and extremely well-funded.  Because of the support of the RCRC, the South Dakota group Pastors for Moral Choices was able to respond with gentle, reasonable ads that demonstrated that deeply religious people can come to different conclusions about abortion. Along with physicians who cautioned against government intrusion into medical decision-making, clergy were able to raise the possibility that compassion requires us to keep abortion legal, and to trust these complex decisions to women in consultation with their pastors, physicians and family.
   
On behalf of RCRC and Pastors for Moral Choices, thank you to all those who contributed to our ads.  

Colorado Voters Reject Personhood for Fertilized Eggs
Voters in Centennial State rejected an extreme measure that would have granted personhood to fertilized eggs, jeopardizing women's access to birth control and abortion. Colorado RCRC worked against this dangerous proposition.

Colorado RCRC Executive Director Betty Serotta reports:

By a margin of 3-1, Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative to define life as "beginning at conception." Colorado RCRC clergy members spoke extensively about the initiative, to their own congregations and many other groups. Most voters agreed that the government should not decide such a deeply personal matter - that individuals should make such determinations based on their own faith traditions and conscience. National RCRC and Colorado RCRC helped to support highly effective TV commercials in the last three weeks of the campaign that stressed that the initiative "just went too far."

California Protects Young Women
Once again, Californians voted to reject a parental consent measure for women under the age of 18 seeking to terminate a pregnancy. Instead of encouraging teens to talk to their parents, mandatory parental consent laws may force teens to resort to illegal or self-induced abortions, delay abortion until the second trimester, harm or abandon the baby after it is born, or commit suicide. The desire to maintain secrecy has been a leading cause of deaths from illegal abortion since 1973. RCRC applauds the citizens of California for standing up for young women!