Has anyone here heard of Cecilia Fire Thunder...?

[bliss_eternal]

She was the woman determined to maintain a Planned Parenthood on her reservation in South Dakota, after the powers that be made abortion illegal in her state.

I was curious how things were going with her plans, and looked her up in a search engine. Sadly, she's been impeached. :(

Per her wikipedia entry:

Tribal Presidency

On November 2, 2004, she was elected as the first female leader of the Oglala Sioux. In 2005 she was suspended from her position on the council for 66 days, under impeachment proceedings initiated under allegations associated with a US$38 million loan for the Tribe. She was returned to her position when the complaint was dismissed by the council on December 30.

She became the subject of wide public attention in March of 2006 for her declaration of intent to create a Planned Parenthood clinic on her own land. This was in response to the passing of State legislation banning virtually all abortions within South Dakota. With the sovereign independence of Indian reservations in the United States promised by the federal government, the territory would not be subject to state laws.

On May 31, 2006, it was reported that Fire Thunder was again suspended from her duties as president by the Oglala Sioux tribal Council. In addition, the Council issued a ban on all abortions on tribal land.

A month after her suspension, on June 29, 2006, Fire Thunder was impeached from her duties as Tribal President. Six charges were made against Fire Thunder, the most topical being that she organized the aforementioned clinic outside of her authority as president and that she didn't consult with the council about the project and get their permission. Other charges were that Fire Thunder used the media, the U.S. Post Office and the Oglala Sioux Tribe to solicit funds for the clinic.

Fire Thunder has said that she will challenge the impeachment decision.

On June 30, 2006, Alex White Plume assumed the role of President Pro Tem. His previous position of Vice President will remain open until the November 2006 election.

--------------------------snip-------------------------------
taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Fire_Thunder

Um, gee--lemme' guess why she was impeached and replaced by a man? :crazy:

[noamnety]

1. I've heard of her, yep.

Things not mentioned in the wiki article:

When they voted to suspend her, they did it by calling a meeting when she was out of town seeing a specialist about her hearing loss. At that meeting, they specifically thanked all the people there who were conceived through rape for attending the hearing.

[bliss_eternal]

3. .........!

:grr::mad:

...words just can't express how disturbing those comments are.

[ThomCat]

5. Why does that sound like a backhanded way

of condoning rape? x(

It's like they're congratulating the fathers, in addition ot the children.

[BlueIris]

2. Yeah, we followed that story on my old blog for a while.

IIRC, the consensus of DU posters with friends on her reservation was that she was removed solely because other leaders on the tribal council simply could not deal with a woman President. After she began to exercise her authority WRT repro freedom, her sexist enemies went behind her back to remove her.

[bliss_eternal]

4. Cowards.

:mad:

[Control-Z]

6. Yes, I know who she is

and what she was trying to do. I was so proud when she spoke out. She offered much hope...

This is sad news to hear.

I hope she has the strength to stand up to the challenge.