Sarah Stoesz on MPR
by Karina
Web Editor
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Action Fund
Recently, featured Planned Parenthood MN, ND, SD's CEO, Sarah Stoesz spoke alongside Steve Sviggum, Former State Representative and Speaker of the House, and current Labor Commissioner, at an event hosted by the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. This forum was broadcast yesterday on MPR's Midday show. In an event entitled "Navigating Conflict: Planned Parenthood's Strategy in South Dakota," Stoesz outlined the pro-choice strategy for defeating the 2006 Abortion Ban in South
Dakota.
Stoesz touched on the political demographics of the state, noting that the state is predominantly conservative, with a strong populist tendency and a libertarian streak. Taking all of this into account as well as emphasizing the extreme nature of the bill (it lacked exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother), Planned Parenthood and the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families were able to help to bring the ban before the people to let them decide whether or not there should be a ban on abortion. Their strategy ultimately succeeded and the ban was defeated. Along the way, pro-choice advocates learned the importance of understanding that there is plenty of room for people who are BOTH pro-life and pro-choice in the pro-choice camp.
After Stoesz's discussion of the success in South Dakota, Sviggum, who is a Republican and anti-choice advocate, emphasized that the success achieved by Planned Parenthood was as admirable, stating that "You have to give credit to another side that wins the day on an important issue."
Afterward, the floor was opened up to audience questions. All in all, it was calm and collected discussion of what went down in South Dakota in 2006. Very refreshing considering the chaos that had gone down back in 2006. Click HERE to listen to the discussion on MPR's website. For a more detailed summary of the discussion check out Jeff Fecke's post on RHReality Check.
(photos: upper right, Sarah Stoesz. Lower left, Steve Sviggum.)
