Oglala Sioux Nation President facing impeachment for pro-choice efforts

[benevolent dictator]

Pine Ridge Leader Faces Battle Over Abortion Ban
The South Dakota abortion ban inspired the president of the Oglala Sioux Nation to call for a clinic to be built on the reservation. Now she faces impeachment.

--snip--
The council proceeded without her. First an abortion ban--clearly aimed at the Sacred Choices center--was unanimously passed. It contains a provision to banish from the reservation anyone who considers getting an abortion or helps someone else obtain one.

Then the council turned to Fire Thunder. In a 14-to-1 vote, the council of 18, mostly men, suspended her, pending an impeachment hearing. Peters, as reported by the newspaper Indian Country Today, thanked those who may have been conceived as a result of rape for attending the meeting. Later, in an interview for Women's eNews, he called for a forum where tribal members could discuss the merits of abortion. But Asetoyer said such a public debate is in complete opposition to the traditional practice of tribal women.

"These matters are not up for scrutiny by our male counterparts," she said. "This is a discussion for women to have in privacy of other women. Whoever calls for public debates has been totally converted to a colonial way of thinking."
--snip--

[Larkspur]

1. Men punishing woman for speaking up for their rights is colonial thinking

[Justitia]

2. Wow - check out these 2 numerical facts from the article!

85% unemployment on this reservation
AND
Native American women are RAPED THREE TIMES MORE OFTEN than any other race in the USA!

--snip--
The underlying fact of life in Shannon County, which is dominated by the Pine Ridge Reservation, is economic poverty. The county is consistently ranked each decade by the U.S. Census as the poorest in the nation, while the reservation endures 85 percent unemployment. "You can't control poverty," Fire Thunder said, "until you can control population."

Legal abortion, Fire Thunder said, is particularly important for Native American women, who lack access to birth control, who tend to live in poverty and who face epidemic sexual violence.

Native American women are raped three times more often than women of all other races in the United States, according to 1999 U.S. Department of Justice data.

--snip--

Her male antagonist in this matter actually "thanked those who may have been conceived as a result of rape for attending the meeting" - WTF does that tell you about how prevalent this assault on women is for this reservation???

:crazy:

[glitch]

3. how do we support her? k & r nt