South Dakota Abortion Task Force Update

 

By DR. Allen Unruh

*Editor's note: the following is reprinted from a previous Dakota Voice print edition

The next meeting of the Task Force on Abortion is Friday, Dec. 9th, 2005. This will be the final meeting prior to release of the task force report. Testimony will be given on statistics gathered on abortion in South Dakota since 1973 from the South Dakota Department of Health. We may also receive testimony on the economic impact of abortion.

The task force has received thousands of research documents. We have submitted for the record thousands of affidavits of women who have been victims of abortion. We have heard from national and local experts who testified before the task force. We have heard from public testimony by those from this area who have had abortions and claim to have positive and negative consequences. I have done an interview with South Dakota Public Radio regarding the task force report. The purpose of the task force was to gather evidence and research on abortion.

There is much new evidence since 1973:

• We have ultrasound technology that can look inside the womb and reveal the heart beating 21 days after conception.

• Molecular biology was not even a science in 1973 and is now a major field of study.

• DNA evidence was not prevalent in 1973 which can now delineate the DNA of the unborn and compare it to both parents.

• Babies have been saved as young as eleven ounces. Surgery on the unborn is now a common procedure.

• The physical complications of abortion has been researched.

• There is considerable research on the mental, emotional and spiritual components of abortion.

• We had experts testify on the economic aspects of abortion with 45 million women who have received an abortion. How do abortion clinics operate?

• We have revealed evidence of the doctor/patient relationship, informed consent forms used in the abortion industry, and the death rates of abortion.

What I have found interesting is the people who are abortion advocates have tried to suppress testimony from women who have had abortions calling it anecdotal evidence. But that's where the rubber meets the road: how abortion affects real people. Hitler said, "One death is a tragedy, a million is merely a statistic." We're not just compiling statistics. The evidence is overwhelming on the devastating effects of abortion on this great country. Let us pray that the SD Legislature will weigh this evidence and do their duty according to principle in the best interest for the people of SD.

You will hear from those on the task force who are pro-abortion that they are a minority on this committee. I would remind you that the purpose of the legislature was to research and discover, based on new evidence what the consequences of abortion really are. It was not to weigh this committee with a majority who would purposely deny, and discredit the evidence every way they know how. Only the truth will gain freedom for the unborn and all those who have been victims of abortion.

This committee has taken its job very seriously and the report will represent a painstaking effort which is unprecedented on this issue. It has been an honor to be on this committee to hear this testimony. It is a huge responsibility to make sure this report reveals the truth about abortion and how abortion has affected this country.  

 

Dr. Allen Unruh is a Sioux Falls physician, co-founder of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, and serves on the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion.

 

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