Women’s health is on the ballot in South Dakota. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund has been working with Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund and the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families  to defeat yet another abortion ban in South Dakota.

Since 2006, the last time South Dakota faced a proposed abortion ban, the opposition has gotten craftier. This year's bill features so-called exceptions that make our job of educating the public about this dangerous measure more difficult. The truth is that this ban would be the most sweeping and inflexible ban on abortion in effect in the United States.

The good news is that, so far, organizers and volunteers have contacted tens of thousands of voters in the state. We've discovered that once people learn how narrow and inflexible the exceptions are, making the ban dangerous to women’s health and allowing the government to intrude on personal health care decisions, they pledge to vote against it.
 
Perhaps the most inspiring part of all this is meeting and talking with women who have personal reasons and experiences that make this issue so very important to them. Often, they cannot speak out for fear of what their family members, neighbors, or co-workers might say. But they trust us and thank us for the work we're doing. That means everything to all of us fighting so hard to protect women’s health by keeping abortion safe and legal in South Dakota.
 
One family in particular sticks out in my mind: Tiffany and Chris Campbell were faced with a tragically difficult choice — save one of their twin fetuses or risk losing both. They would have done anything they could to save both, but the risk was too great, and they made the very complicated decision to save one.
 
Tiffany and Chris have courageously come forward and shared their story with the people of South Dakota. Their story illustrates why government intrusion into personal health care decisions through an abortion ban in South Dakota just doesn't make sense.

Whenever I'm having a down or exhausting day, I just remember the Campbells and what they've gone through and what they’ve done for the families of this state, and I'm inspired to fight even harder.

The author, Shannon Stevens, is a community organizer from Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota Action Fund.  The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is working in South Dakota and other battleground states across the country.  Learn more .

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