South Dakota Tribe to setup Planned Parenthood Clinic

[walldude]

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/03/1809859.php

OMG this is beautiful.

[Zenlitened]

1. Three cheers for Cecilia Fire Thunder!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[kurth]

5. She'll hear from Alberto Gonzales

There will be some kind of federal meddling on behalf of the fundamentalist crowd, just like their failed attempt to set aside the assisted suicide law in Oregon.

[walldude]

21. He can scream all he wants, the US has no jurisdiction

on Indian land. There is nothing they can do.

[Mabus]

26. The US does have jurisdiction on Indian land

albeit limited to issues that are criminal (like General Crimes Act (18 USC 1152) and Major Crimes Act (18 USC 1153) or regulatory matters (like Indian Gaming Regulatory Act).

[walldude]

30. Well then would this fall under "criminal"?

Since it's only a state and not a federal law I don't think there is anything they can do about it...

[nonews]

31. see post No 28

[Mabus]

33. This is a state law/regulation

What they will look at are the licenses of the medical professionals to determine if they are issued by South Dakota or another state. If the license is granted by SD, the state could revoke the license. To circumvent this, either the tribe can set up its own licensing procedures or use medical personnel who are licensed in another jurisidction/state. Another way that SD could to try to assume jurisdiction is if a non-CDIB person assisted or performed the abortion. That is, under the Major Crimes Act, of the enumerated crimes committed by a non-Indian upon another non-Indian on Indian land is a state crime. There are probably a few other ways that SD can try to interfere with the reservation.

[Neil Lisst]

46. Yeah, but bottom line is it's a federal enclave, and S.D. can't stop them

from having abortions there, and they damn sure can't stop South Dakota pregnant women from going there to get an abortion.

Even if they have to bring doctors in from another state, the Indians will be able to run their abortion clinic, and the South Dakota lege and governor will be checkmated on this issue.

[Mabus]

50. I'm not saying they can't do it

I'm just trying to think ahead of what they might try to do. I've had Indian clients in Leavenworth who there only because they were Indian. Most of them are serving life sentences for crimes on Indian reservations/land while their white cohorts have served their time in state pens and have been released.

The conservatives are upset that they have the majority in congress, they have the White House and they have the Court but they haven't any of their issues passed. They elected these guys thinking they would ban gay marriage, outlaw abortions, push the Bible into our schools, protect the country, etc. This is something that the GOP hasn't wanted to really face. They have to put up or shut up on these wedge issues and so far, the GOP hasn't done squat. In retaliation the South Dakota did what the feds have refused to do - they've outlawed abortion as much as they possibly can and they are going to continue to try to stop abortions by any means at their disposal. The first logical tactic is to go after the licenses of the medical workers. In other words, some state legislatures are going to push the envelope and they will eventually demand federal intervention at some point. There are a lot of ways that the feds can go after tribes without directly addressing the abortion issue (thereby keeping it in play for future elections). Federal intervention can come in several forms from budget cuts to federal legislation which regulates all medical care on the reservation or tighter restrictions on gaming to a slow down on BIA approval on needed programs or contracts.


on edit: found an article from Tuesday that highlights the same concerns I had:

"If the victim is a tribal member or the perpetrator is a tribal member, then it's an event that's outside state jurisdiction, irrespective if it's an abortion or any other crime," (South Dakota Attorney General Larry ) Long said.

Only crimes committed on tribal land by non-Indians against non-Indians are handled by the state, Long said. He said the fetus of an enrolled tribal member probably would be considered Native American for jurisdictional purposes because it would be eligible for enrollment once it was born.

"The typical test is, 'Are you an enrolled member?' but that's not the only test," said Long, who declined to comment about the specifics of the law because he would be the one to write the referendum for the November ballot.

Charlie Abourezk, a Rapid City lawyer who has represented both the tribe and Fire Thunder personally, said he thought the idea could work. "My view of it is that if the medical providers and doctors are Native American, regardless of whether the woman receiving the abortion is Indian or non-Indian, it may be legal," Abourezk said. source

[funflower]

55. He can't enforce a state law. It's not a federal matter.

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! :woohoo:

[CanonRay]

2. Where do I donate?

[rpgamerd00d]

3. Now THAT is AMERICAN. Woot!

[crispini]

4. K&R!

w00t!!!!!!!

[Rainscents]

6. She was on AAR - Laura Flanders this past weekend,

She is fighting this for Women of CHOICE! She is also President of the Tribe!

[Fleshdancer]

7. DONATION INFORMATION

This was in the comments section from the link provided by the OP:

Ms. Fire Thunder and the Oglala Sioux Planned Parenthood

I called the Office of the President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, and spoke with Ms. Fire Thunder herself. (In case you haven't seen it, this is in reference to http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/013061.asp)

If you want to mail donations to the reservation, you may do so at:

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:

ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

Enclose a letter voicing your support and explaining the purpose of the donation. Bear in mind, the Pine Ridge Res is not exactly dripping with disposeable income, so do consider donating funds directly to the tribe as well as specifically for this effort.

ETA: Make checks out to OST Planned Parenthood Cecelia Fire Thunder. This will ensure that the funds get routed properly.

For email contact, you can contact the president at:

firethunder_president AT NOSPAM yahoo DOT com
cc:vbush AT NOSPAM oglala DOT org

That is Ms. Fire Thunder's personal email address; I have received permission to post it here. For the sake of record keeping, do cc: the listed address on all correspondence; that's her official secretary.

She was frankly kind of surprised that a white girl from Seattle was calling to express support, and even more surprised that the news had spread so far so fast. She's likely to get deluged with screaming hate mail soon, so get your support in fast. Send email with good thoughts if you can't send money.

ETA: Yes, please, dear God, link it anywhere and everywhere!


__________________________

ok DU, it's time to do our part.

[walldude]

8. Nice work Gloria...

Time to dig deep DU'ers let's show them where we stand!

[CanonRay]

16. Just mailed my check!

[Fleshdancer]

19. great! you're faster than I am....

I know I bought 1 cent stamps damn it. I can't find them anywhere so I guess the post office will get a little extra too, lol.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

20. Thank you Gloria! My check is made out, envelope sealed and being

mailed tomorrow!

[truebrit71]

24. Stupid question....

...is cash okay?

[Fleshdancer]

25. it's not *as* safe....

but I don't see why you couldn't send it. It wouldn't be considered a political donation so I think they can accept it. You might want to take the extra precaution of sending it in a small padded envelope so people won't be able to see what's inside. :shrug:

[walldude]

27. Send it in the form of a money order

much safer, you can get them almost anywhere, grocery store, 7-11, bank....

[wicket]

42. Post office too

Good suggestion :thumbsup:

[wicket]

29. Thank-you SO much!

:kick:

[Hekate]

57. THANK YOU GLORIA! This was my first thought when I heard this on the news

I thought :wow: where can I donate? But I had no idea how to contact President Fire Thunder.

Great work on your part. Early support to Planned Parenthood and to Ms Fire Thunder are important.

This gesture of hers is SO important to the women of South Dakota. I'm just afraid the idiots in SD will try to penalize women for driving onto the reservation...

Hekate

[villager]

9. fantastic! Fire Thunder indeed!

n/t

[Terra Terra]

10. Can anyone answer a semi-unrelated question?

This probably belongs in a thread of its own, but are native americans who live on reservations allowed to vote in state/local elections? If a tribe's reservation is a sovereign nation unto itself, and the state, e.g. south dakota, has no jurisdiction on the reservation, do native americans get to vote for city, county, and state legislators who have no jurisdiction over them? Mostly unrelated to the topic, but something i've been curious about.

[walldude]

13. Yes Native Americans have the right to vote since 1948

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/jazz/citizens_1

Congress Granted Citizenship to All Native Americans Born in the U.S.
June 2, 1924
Native Americans have long struggled to retain their culture. Until 1924, Native Americans were not citizens of the United States. Many Native Americans had, and still have, separate nations within the U.S. on designated reservation land. But on June 2, 1924, Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Yet even after the Indian Citizenship Act, some Native Americans weren't allowed to vote because the right to vote was governed by state law. Until 1948, some states barred Native Americans from voting.

Not sure why they would want to but there it is...

[Warpy]

17. The pueblos and other tribes in NM were authorized to vote

in state elections in 1948. I don't know what the scoop is in other states. NM is one of two states (the other being Washington) that has questions on tribal law on the state bar exam. The tribes and pueblos send their own state reps and the choice of those reps is an internal matter. They vote for governors, judges, and other offices that might be of importance to the tribe as a whole.

The tribes don't pay state taxes on cigarettes and gasoline. They do pay part of the revenue from gambling to the state in the form of gambling taxes. As sovereign states, they're not subject to a lot of state restrictions, and gambling is only one of those. They are, however, subject to Federal restrictions, which means don't go there to buy dope.

To say the combination of tribal and state law is complicated is a gross understatement. My poor knowledge of it is from a cross trained lawyer I met when I first moved out here.

[newyawker99]

36. Hi Terra Terra!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Warpy]

11. She must've been reading DU

because that's what a lot of us suggested as a solution to South Dakota's problem with uppity men passing laws on stuff they have no right to address.

There is a thread on the Choice board with an address for donations.

[Fleshdancer]

32. well it IS a great idea

I wish I had thought of it! ;)

[Warpy]

38. I did and I was one of a dozen or so who suggested it

so a lot of great and slightly twisted minds were thinking alike.

[Generic Other]

12. I will re-route my Planned Parenthjood donations her way!!

Thanks for the info!! Women will only win this war by taking direct action.

Those idiots trying to control our bodies think they can take us back to the day when no one knew anything about contraception or abortion. Well guess what? You can't stop it from happening. You can't keep women from making their own decisions.

This is the response that you will get everywhere you try!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. Wow!!!!! Kudos Ms. Fire Thunder!!!! Tears in my eyes here! What

wonderful news!!!!

[DUHandle]

15. This is wonderful news!

[Tanuki]

18. While your checkbook is open

please consider writing another one to benefit the Oglala Lakota, whose website is here:
http://www.lakotamall.com/oglalasiouxtribe/index.htm
I am planning to donate to the Pine Ridge Dialysis Center (diabetes is rampant in their community) and the Pine Ridge Schools while I am at it.

[LostinVA]

43. Or the Porcupine Clinic -- they literally need stuff like Ace bandages

[huskerlaw]

22. Bless You, Cecilia Fire Thunder!

:applause:

:patriot:

[mzmolly]

23. Great!

:toast:

[nonews]

28. Other Indian Reservations

All Indian Reservations are "Sovereign Nations." That means that they do not follow the exact 'laws' of the US Constitution. This goes back to George Washington! If this works out in SD--more other states could follow that have Indian Reservations--California, NY, Nevada, Arizona, etc. If Rowe us overturned, Planned Parenthood opens clinics on the reservations.

[villager]

41. hey, when the constitution is finally "overturned," maybe they'll

...provide refuge from those fleeing from "the old Republic..."

[walldude]

34. Keeping it kicked!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

35. link to my post on the same subject re donations

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27420

[walldude]

37. Excellent! Keep em' kicked

and keep the donations coming.

[bliss_eternal]

39. If I lived closer

I would volunteer there! :applause: Way to go, South Dakota tribe!

:yourock:

[walldude]

40. kick....

[countryjake]

44. We should all be this courageous!

Thanks to this woman for standing up for human rights and equality for all. I applaud her!

[Neil Lisst]

45. It's a federal enclave so SUCK IT, South Dakota! Little Bighorn, bitches!

[proud patriot]

47. good for her

she will need support

[clyrc]

48. Finally some news I can smile at in GD!

Good for her!

[bliss_eternal]

49. kicked and nominated...

:woohoo:

[in_cog_ni_to]

51. EVERY reservation in every state that has them should set up a PP clinic.

Planned Parenthood needs to team up with them and if they are SMART, they will! This is THE BEST IDEA I've heard in ages!:bounces:

[NMMNG]

52. A brilliant "Eff You" to the scum lawmakers of SD

who would like to run womens' lives. :applause:

[KitchenWitch]

53. Right on!

Sovereignty is a good thing.

[NuttyFluffers]

54. Hey, can we be tourists to SD area now? :D There's a toehold now

Ask permission to stay on the Pine Ridge Reservation and then take a trip out to see Mt. Rushmore or the Badlands. Purchase one's sundries at the rez, stay at any local rez accomodations, even if it's campgrounds, and enjoy the rest of the state's attractions guilt free. That'll work right? Besides, the people on the reservation could definitely use an improved economy. Isn't that a win-win? :D

[countryjake]

56. Kicking for Ms. Fire Thunder!

[Hekate]

58. K&R. Keepin' this kicked.

:kick:

Hekate