tdaxp

"S.D. Governor OKs Anti-Abortion Bills," by Joe Kafka, Associated Press, 17 March 2005, http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20050317/ap_on_re_us/sdakota_abortion_laws&printer=1 (from South Dakota Politics).

Great, great, great news.

Gov. Mike Rounds signed a series of anti-abortion bills, including one that requires doctors to tell women the procedure ends the lives of humans, his office announced Thursday.

The bill-signings further tighten state abortion restrictions that some characterize as among the toughest in the nation.

One of the four new laws requires doctors to inform pregnant women, in writing and in person, no later than two hours before an abortion that the procedure ends the lives of humans and terminates the constitutional relationship women have with their fetuses.

Women also must be told that some women die during abortions and the procedure can lead to later depression and other problems.

...

Rounds, a Republican elected in 2002, also signed a bill that will automatically ban most abortions in South Dakota if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses its 1973 Roe decision and gives states authority to prohibit abortion. The only exceptions would be cases where a woman's life is in danger. Doctors who perform illegal abortions could receive up to two years in prison.

...

A fourth new law establishes a state task force to study the history of abortion since 1973 and to see if other laws need changing. Abortion opponents said science, medicine and technology have changed considerably since the Roe v. Wade decision.

"Governor summit won't gain much water leverage," Sioux Falls Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050123/OPINION01/501230301/1052, 23 January 2005.

This article combines two themes of South Dakota politics. One is a yearning to conduct an independent foreign policy. Several times under Governor Janklow we blockaded Canada, in spite of the obvious difficulty of not sharing a border with that Northern Despotism. It wasn't just symbolic, though. The Highway Patrol was quite active in interdiction activities and it caused real headaches for Canadians trying to drive through our interstate-stradling state.

The other theme is the Missouri River. The River defines the state (there is "East River is East River, West River is West River, and Never the Twain Shall Meet"), and we use it heavily for recreation and hydoelectricity. However, our desire for a high water level is constantly trumped by downstream states and the Army Corps of Engineers. While downstream states use the river only for shipping, and that traffic is minuscule, that special interest lobby has enough influce in Washington to prevent rational water management. During the last gubernatorial election, the President of the University of South Dakota suggested South Dakota and other northern states simply buy-out the downstream barge industry. The victor, Mike Rounds, is working with other states, but with little progress.

In that context, the Sfal's modest proposals:

Gov. Mike Rounds has proposed another summit with eight governors from Missouri River states.

The goal would be to get everyone together and persuade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep more water in South Dakota reservoirs this year.

He's proposed keeping more water as a method - during drought - of ensuring a better barge season next year. It also would help recreation in upstream states.

While the governor will have a tough sell with downstream states ...

Oh, who's kidding whom? There's no way in the world we'd persuade Missouri and Iowa, especially, to go along with such an idea.

The corps won't help. It's already has flatly rejected Rounds' suggestion.

And we can't expect any aid from Congress.

So getting some governors together to flap their jaws - never agreeing - won't accomplish anything.

Maybe it's time for South Dakota to take the bull by the horns. It seems we've got two choices:

# Rounds can call out the National Guard - once they all return from Iraq - and we can take over the dams. After all, they're run by the Army's engineers, not the Green Berets.

# Or we can build our own dam and trump the corps.

The second option seems best. There might be some objection to an armed insurrection. The USA Patriot Act probably has a provision against it.

If we built our own dam on the lower stretch of the river, we'd have the hand on the final spigot.

Why not? Governor, the ball's in your court.