A Black Day in South Dakota
Red State? Blue State? No! Yellow State!
As it was around the country, yesterday was election day in South Dakota. Aside from all the elected positions to vote for, aside from chosing from Republicans and Democrats (oh, and those others, too), aside from chosing to legislate a longer summer for school children (yeah, how trivial), perhaps the biggest issue on the ballot was that of abortion.
Last Summer, the South Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill (HB1215) that would outlaw all abortions except those that would save the life of the mother. Later that same summer, a petition drive was held, mainly in Sioux Falls, but also in Rapid City (I'm guessing based on the fact they didn't visit little ol' Marion, that the rural parts of South Dakota—that is, the REST OF THE STATE—weren't needed) to place the law before the voters. So, yesterday (and for some, in the days leading up to yesterday), that's what we did. The law was defeated 56% to 44%.