Lakota culture places children first but that doesn't mean Indian voters in South Dakota support the state's restrictive abortion law.

"Us men, we don't interfere. As Lakota, we are not supposed to tell women when to have their children. It's their issue," Cornell Conroy tells The Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Charon Asetoyer, the founder of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center on the Yankton Sioux Reservation, agrees. Reproductive decisions "are traditionally the business of women, and for men to decide for us is extremely disrespectful," she tells the paper.

Eileen Janis, the vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, thinks tribal members will vote with their culture. She says the ousting of former president Cecilia Fire Thunder, who criticized the abortion law, shows they care about the issue.

On November 7, voters are being asked whether they want to keep the restrictive law or reject it.

Get the Story:
Tribes might sway abortion vote (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 10/31)

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