Sanity in South Dakota?

When South Dakota recently passed a law banning abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, not all residents were happy, despite the conservative leanings of that fairly Republican state.

In fact, approval ratings for Gov. Mike Rounds (R), who signed the bill into law, have plummeted, from 72 percent last month (one of the highest ratings a governor had in the country), to 58 percent after he signed the bill.

And there may even be a physical pocket of sanity in the state, in the form of one of the sovereign Native American reservations.

According to indianz.com, which covers American Indian matters, after the law passed, “The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “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.”

It's a beautiful thing.