UNL students fight South Dakota abortion ban

Seven University of Nebraska-Lincoln students traveled to South Dakota over the weekend to volunteer on behalf of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, the main abortion rights group opposing Initiated Measure 11. They spent the weekend talking with undecided voters through banking phones, canvassing neighborhoods and holding signs at a busy intersection. The Daily Nebraskan interviewed some of the students Saturday night about their experiences, fears and feelings.

Haley Heindryckx

Many of the UNL students on the trip heard about the volunteer opportunities in South Dakota from Haley Heindryckx, a junior women's and gender studies major.

"I figured it was a good opportunity to learn some things because it is likely we'll have a similar ban coming," she said. She mentioned several Nebraska senators have expressed interest in purposing a trigger law ban, which would go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

Heindryckx canvassed in Yankton, SD, where she talked to voters to help them make up their minds about the purposed ban. She said she walked at least 20 blocks and knocked on 75 doors.

Communicating with South Dakota voters helped her to learn how to speak more productively and effectively to conservatives.

"I mentioned to a lot of the houses that abortion is a woman's choice she makes with her family, her doctor and her God, without government intrusion," she said.

"A lot of people don't look at banning abortion in that light and think that women get them as a form of birth control. That's really not the case: It's a painstaking decision for a lot of women."

Heindryckx said she was encouraged by the show of out-of-state support against the measure.

"This is important, especially because, being Nebraska, this could hit us and we would need help defeating the measure. I hope that if and when this happens, we get the same support that we've seen out here in South Dakota."

Dani Shanahan

While Dani Shanahan, a junior women and gender studies major, was canvassing Saturday, she stopped to talk to a man on a bike who asked what she and her volunteer partner were doing.

"He asked us what was more important: one woman's civil rights or 47 million babies," she said. "I didn't think that one woman aborted 47 million babies. And to that woman anyways, that civil right might be the most important thing to her."

On one street, she skipped two houses with "YES TO MEASURE 11" signs and children playing in the front yard.

She went all the way to the end of the street and crossed to the other side to walk back.

"On our way back, one of the kids picked up the sign and was waving it at us," she said. "Then when we looked at him, he put it down and ran behind a (parked) truck."

Shanahan could still see the boy peaking from behind the vehicle, so she waved.

"I'm pretty sure his mom told him we were evil, so we said, 'Hi.' He had no idea what to do."

Katrina Fischman

Katrina Fischman, a sophomore journalism and political science major, almost didn't go on the trip because she was nervous about the possibility of being harassed. She didn't get over her nervousness, but went on the trip anyway.

"I've always told myself I would get involved and had managed to put it off," she said. "This is something that I'm passionate about, so I finally said, 'What am I waiting for?'"

She said despite the controversy surrounding abortion, even people she disagreed with were generally polite and not hostile at all. She was also inspired by voter support.

"On the third house we went to, the woman said she was voting against (the ban), and that genuinely motivated me to continue," she said.

Volunteering in South Dakota has taught Fischman about the strength of her convictions.

"If you believe in something, it's not enough to just have that belief; you should get involved," she said. "I've had beliefs for awhile but I never got involved. When things happened, I felt guilty because I didn't stop (them).

"If this initiative goes though, I would've been kicking myself. I don't know if my actions will make a difference, but at least this way, I know I did what I could."

Sindu Sathiyaseelan

Sindu Sathiyaseelan is from South Dakota.

"I graduated from Sioux Falls so I was kind of apprehensive from experience," said Sathiyaseelan, a senior English major. "There's a lot of anti-choice sentiment here and I was kind of scared we would get a lot of opposition."

She said she was surprised by how many people were open to talking about the issue and how many people were against the ban.

"It was good to talk to people face-to-face," she said. "A lot of people that are voting 'no' … looked appreciative that we were doing the canvassing.

"There were also a lot of people unwilling to share their opinions, too, and I respect that."

Elaine Arrington

Sophomore Elaine Arrington missed two classes in order to volunteer.

"It's really mind-boggling for me to think that people in South Dakota would not be able to make that choice," said Arrington, a mathematics major. "It is very personal, and I don't think that a ban like this should (pass)."

Arrington said voters need to realize that voting 'yes' or 'no' does not have anything to do with moral issues surrounding abortions, but the actual right of the government to make that decision for women.

"It's not whether it's moral or not," she said. "It's whether the government should be in charge."

Arirington said Nebraska volunteers were not the only out-of-state visitors. Volunteers from Wisconsin, Montana, Kansas and Minnesota were also in town.

"Coming down for a weekend may seem like it isn't that much," she said. "But a lot of people here does make a difference."