Don't mess with Fire Thunder

This is getting NO coverage in the MSM (yet, anyway), but this is something you should hear about. Apparently the president of the Oglala Sioux Nation in South Dakota has vowed to open a Planned Parenthood clinic on her reservation, specifically to be an abortion provider in the state. And because the state government has no jurisdiction on the reservation, there's not a damn thing they'll be able to do about it. Via Indianz.com:

"When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,” there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.” He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.”

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”

Fire Thunder is apparently one bitchin' babe (well, you know she's cool if the freepers compare her to Hilary Rodham Clinton). She's the first female president of her tribe, and she has a long history of advocacy for women and children - not to mention that she's gotten the tribe into decent economic shape for the first time in a while. As August notes, this latest move will probably place her right in the crosshairs of the GOP slime machine, so keep an eye on this story - she may soon need all the support she can get.