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PRESS RELEASE
(9/8/2006)
SDSMA Attempt to Change Abortion Ban Position Blocked Pro-abortion doctor from Rapid City moves to table re-examination of stance Mitchell, SD, Sept.8---Today, the South Dakota State Medical Association stalled a vote that could soften its critical stance on Referred Law 6. Dr. Don Oliver, Clinical Associative Professor of Pediatrics at the Sanford School of Medicine, asked the SDSMA Policy Council to correct critical statements that accompanied its officially neutral stance. Members of the council introduced and seconded a motion to soften the statement language. But Dr. Marvin Buehner, co-chair of the Referred Law 6 opposition group, initiated a tabling of the issue. The medical association accused the abortion-limiting law of a flawed scientific basis. Vincent M. Rue, Ph.D., from the Institute for Pregnancy Loss, conducted a portion of the law’s research. He challenges critical physicians to identify the flawed studies. “I call upon the SDSMA to review the extensive Task Force Report and compare that information to the allegations it made,” he said. Dr. Oliver notes that nothing in the SDSMA statement refuted the basic principles of Referred Law 6. “That life begins at conception and that abortion is harmful to women,” he said. Additionally, the SDSMA suggested that Referred Law 6 intrudes on the medical profession. Dr. Oliver pointed out that strict regulation of the entire industry exists. “The SDSMA may wish to take a neutral stand on the issue itself, but to color legitimate regulation as intrusion is not neutral,” he said. Dr. Oliver also rejected the SDSMA claim that Referred Law 6 will unduly criminalize doctors. Law provisions protect physicians who perform legitimate life-saving procedures. Dr. Oliver added, “No South Dakota physicians perform elective abortions.” Dr. Oliver plans to cancel his association membership on Monday. “The SDSMA no longer represents what is healthy for women and children in South Dakota,” he stated.
VoteYesForLife.com campaigns on behalf of Referred Law 6. The campaign organized in 2006 to support HB 1215, the Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act.
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