Abortion Banned On Pine Ridge, Cecilia Fire Thunder Removed From Presidency

Defend Oglala Sioux President Cecilia Fire Thunder

Background:

Abortion has been outlawed in South Dakota:
http://www.ntimc.org/newswire.php

Outraged Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Souix Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has voiced her defiance saying, "To me, it is now a question of sovereignty, 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."

After taking a courageous stance against the ban on abortion in South Dakota, Cecilia Fire Thunder, first female president of the Oglala Sioux tribe, has been attacked by members of the Tribal Council, who are attempting to remove her from office. On May 30 the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council banned abortions on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and suspended President Fire Thunder for 20 days until an impeachment hearing can take place.

The complaint is that Fire Thunder improperly used her title to solicit donations for the clinic. Fire Thunder has said that donations for the proposed private clinic have been unsolicited, though she has welcomed nationwide support. The surprise vote was called when Fire Thunder was out of town getting an annual checkup of the cochlear implants that restored her hearing. Read more at indianz.com/News/2006/014231.asp

Cecilia Fire Thunder has lost popularity on the reservation due to her austerity policies that she has done in the name of “fiscal responsibility”. While demanding the restoration of federal money for programs where federal funding has been cut on the reservation, Liberation News does not endorse Cecilia Fire Thunder’s policies of austerity and job cuts.

In addition Liberation News does not take a position on the accusation by Cecilia Fire Thunder’s political opponent Russell Mean’s (of AIM) that she is not eligible to hold her position because she lives outside the reservation.

Liberation News does, however, strongly condemn the banning of abortion on the Pine Ridge Reservation as an infringement on the sovereignty of women over their own bodies, just as forced sterilization was a crime against women on the reservation in the past. Likewise, Liberation News opposes the suspension and possible impeachment of Cecilia Fire Thunder due to the fact that the issue of her courageous stand for the right to abortion has been mixed into the reasons why her leadership position is under attack.

Join the call by reproductive rights activists to send a letter to:

Oglala Sioux Tribal Council
PO Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770-2070
fax: 605-867-1449
phone 605-867-5821

and send a copy to
President Cecelia Fire Thunder
PO Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770-2070