Cecelia Fire Thunder, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a former nurse, said women who are raped or the victims of incest should have the option to choose an abortion.

A new South Dakota law bans abortions except to save a woman's life. In response, Fire Thunder said she will work to open a clinic to perform abortions on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The tribe's code doesn't say anything specific about abortion, according to a lawyer who has represented the tribe and Fire Thunder. But it defines an unborn child as a person.

State attorney general Larry Long has claimed the state could have jurisdiction to enforce the law on non-Indians on the reservation. He said unborn Native Americans would not be subject to the law.

Get the Story:
Tribe could still have clinic (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 3/28)

Relevant Links:
Oglala Sioux Tribe - http://www.lakotamall.com/oglalasiouxtribe

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