SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In the fight to preserve the toughest abortion ban in the nation, the talk is not of a fetus' right to life. It's of a woman's right to motherhood.
Antiabortion activists here deliberately avoid the familiar slogans of their movement. They don't talk about the "murder of innocent babies" or quote the Bible on the sanctity of life. Instead, campaign manager Leslee Unruh has taken what she calls a feminist approach, arguing that legalized abortion exploits women and -- for their sake -- must be stopped.
The bumper stickers and T-shirts that fill campaign headquarters spell out her message, in pink and blue: "Abortion Hurts Women."
"We women buy the choice line. We're panicked, or we're being pressured, or we're ashamed to have a child outside marriage," Unruh said. She speaks from personal experience; she had an abortion nearly 30 years ago and said her life since has been darkened with regret and longing. "If you don't do your job right as a mother," Unruh asked, "what good is everything else?"
Abortion-rights supporters call such rhetoric patronizing and presumptuous; they say many women find that ending unwanted pregnancies brings relief and the freedom to pursue other dreams. But they acknowledge that Unruh's tactic is effective -- and that it has thrown their campaign off balance.
"Historically, this debate has been focused on fetal rights, fetal life. We have a lot of language about that," said Sarah Stoesz, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and North and South Dakota. "This adds an element we're not accustomed to. It's a different line of debate.... And that is something we struggle with politically."
The ban, passed overwhelmingly by the South Dakota Legislature in February, makes it a felony to help any woman terminate a pregnancy at any stage, unless an abortion is necessary to prevent her death. Women would not face criminal charges, but their doctors could get up to five years in prison.
Rather than challenge the law in court, Planned Parenthood chose to put it to a public referendum, gambling that people would vote to repeal it on Nov. 7. (South Dakota law permits interest groups to refer legislation to the ballot if they can collect enough signatures.)
