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Pine Ridge Tribal President Impeached for Abortion Support
Pine Ridge Tribal President Impeached for Abortion Support
By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - 30 June 2006
PORCUPINE, S.D. (AP) -- The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted 9-5 Thursday to impeach the tribal president for proposing an abortion clinic on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Cecelia Fire Thunder survived two earlier attempts to remove her from office since she was elected in November 2004 as the tribe's first female president.
This time, the issue was over South Dakota's new abortion ban that does not include exceptions for rape or incest.
After Gov. Mike Rounds signed the bill, Fire Thunder vowed to work to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on the reservation, beyond the reach of state law.
Will Peters, a tribal council member who filed the impeachment complaint, said Fire Thunder didn't have the tribal council's approval to pursue the project.
"The bottom line is the Lakota people were adamantly opposed to abortion on our homelands. The president was involved in unauthorized political actions," he said after the vote, which came after two hours of private deliberation.
Fire Thunder said the two tribal members who brought the complaint should not have voted on the impeachment and the council did not follow the proper procedure in bringing the action against her.
"I'm OK," Fire Thunder said. "We're going to challenge it. It's not about abortion. A lot of them have personal stuff toward me."
Peters said the vote was over her stance on abortion and nothing else. "The council voted on the merits of the complaints," he said.
The day of testimony, questioning and comments was filled with applause and hollers from Fire Thunder's supporters and detractors.
After the vote, there was some confusion about whether the single action was final, which the lawyers concluded it was.
"She's done. She's not president anymore," one tribal member told people in the audience, who then clapped.
As council members cast their votes, some onlookers gasped at the no's -- indicating disapproval for that member's support of Fire Thunder.
While making his case, Peters said Fire Thunder also solicited donations on behalf of the tribe and embarrassed it nationally.
Lakota values teach that abortion is wrong and life is sacred, Peters told the tribal council and the dozens of others gathered in the community center, many of whom fanned themselves in the summer heat.
"Abortion is what has drawn our tribe into the national spotlight," he said. "She basically took the whole tribe into this with her. We sat back and it was like watching a train wreck."
The council suspended Fire Thunder May 29th and also voted to ban abortions on the reservation. When she entered the room Thursday morning, she greeted people in the audience and some tribal council members with smiles, hugs and handshakes.
Fire Thunder said there is no evidence to support removing her from office.
She once worked part-time at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in California that performed abortions and said her support for a clinic comes from concern for girls and women who are victims of rape and incest.
"We have a lot of 14 and 15 year-olds getting pregnant and it did not happen by strangers," she said during her statements.
Fire Thunder said she never asked for donations but people from around the country sent $14,463 without solicitation. That money is being returned, she said.
Fire Thunder said she is being punished for her vision.
"It was an idea. It was an opinion. Nothing is happening. There is no physical structure," she said.
American Indians had 72 of the 814 induced abortions in the state in 2004, or about 9 percent, according to the state Health Department. That's about the same percentage of Indians as in the state's population.
Alex White Plume, the tribal vice chairman, will serve as president until the November election. Some people in the audience applauded when he came into the room after the impeachment vote.
Opponents of the state abortion ban have gathered enough signatures to put it to a statewide vote in November.
By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - 30 June 2006
PORCUPINE, S.D. (AP) -- The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted 9-5 Thursday to impeach the tribal president for proposing an abortion clinic on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Cecelia Fire Thunder survived two earlier attempts to remove her from office since she was elected in November 2004 as the tribe's first female president.
This time, the issue was over South Dakota's new abortion ban that does not include exceptions for rape or incest.
After Gov. Mike Rounds signed the bill, Fire Thunder vowed to work to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on the reservation, beyond the reach of state law.
Will Peters, a tribal council member who filed the impeachment complaint, said Fire Thunder didn't have the tribal council's approval to pursue the project.
"The bottom line is the Lakota people were adamantly opposed to abortion on our homelands. The president was involved in unauthorized political actions," he said after the vote, which came after two hours of private deliberation.
Fire Thunder said the two tribal members who brought the complaint should not have voted on the impeachment and the council did not follow the proper procedure in bringing the action against her.
"I'm OK," Fire Thunder said. "We're going to challenge it. It's not about abortion. A lot of them have personal stuff toward me."
Peters said the vote was over her stance on abortion and nothing else. "The council voted on the merits of the complaints," he said.
The day of testimony, questioning and comments was filled with applause and hollers from Fire Thunder's supporters and detractors.
After the vote, there was some confusion about whether the single action was final, which the lawyers concluded it was.
"She's done. She's not president anymore," one tribal member told people in the audience, who then clapped.
As council members cast their votes, some onlookers gasped at the no's -- indicating disapproval for that member's support of Fire Thunder.
While making his case, Peters said Fire Thunder also solicited donations on behalf of the tribe and embarrassed it nationally.
Lakota values teach that abortion is wrong and life is sacred, Peters told the tribal council and the dozens of others gathered in the community center, many of whom fanned themselves in the summer heat.
"Abortion is what has drawn our tribe into the national spotlight," he said. "She basically took the whole tribe into this with her. We sat back and it was like watching a train wreck."
The council suspended Fire Thunder May 29th and also voted to ban abortions on the reservation. When she entered the room Thursday morning, she greeted people in the audience and some tribal council members with smiles, hugs and handshakes.
Fire Thunder said there is no evidence to support removing her from office.
She once worked part-time at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in California that performed abortions and said her support for a clinic comes from concern for girls and women who are victims of rape and incest.
"We have a lot of 14 and 15 year-olds getting pregnant and it did not happen by strangers," she said during her statements.
Fire Thunder said she never asked for donations but people from around the country sent $14,463 without solicitation. That money is being returned, she said.
Fire Thunder said she is being punished for her vision.
"It was an idea. It was an opinion. Nothing is happening. There is no physical structure," she said.
American Indians had 72 of the 814 induced abortions in the state in 2004, or about 9 percent, according to the state Health Department. That's about the same percentage of Indians as in the state's population.
Alex White Plume, the tribal vice chairman, will serve as president until the November election. Some people in the audience applauded when he came into the room after the impeachment vote.
Opponents of the state abortion ban have gathered enough signatures to put it to a statewide vote in November.
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