SD Abortion Ban Stayed; Referendum to Repeal Ban Qualifies
Activists in South Dakota have succeeded in gathering enough signatures to hold a referendum in November on the state's extreme abortion ban, South Dakota's secretary of state announced yesterday. Signed into law in March by Governor Mike Rounds (R), the ban has only an exception to save the life of a pregnant woman and does not provide exceptions in cases of incest or rape.
The success of the petition means the abortion ban will not go into effect on July 1 as previously scheduled but will be put on hold until the November referendum in order to give voters a chance to repeal the law. The South Dakota Campaign for Health Families, a coalition opposed to the ban, had to collect 16,728 verified signatures by June 19 – they filed a petition on May 30 with over 38,000 signatures.
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
