Thank you to those that replied to our call for volunteers to canvass in South Dakota! More than 200 people from all over the country, including students and activists from Illinois, gathered in South Dakota in the days before the election to educate voters about a potentially devastating abortion ban.

Read as volunteers describe their experience:

Leah:
I just returned from my trip to South Dakota where I worked with the Campaign for Healthy Families to defeat the proposed abortion ban in that state. The abortion ban the South Dakota legislature enacted earlier this year was extreme -- it banned abortions even at the earliest stages of pregnancy, and permitted no exceptions for women were terminating their pregnancies because of health concerns or women who had become pregnant as a result of sexual assault. I spent most of my time in South Dakota canvassing residential neighborhoods and phone banking, trying to get the message out to voters about the dangerousness of this law, and to encourage those residents who opposed the ban to get to the polls on November 7. The other side was obviously well-funded -- their commercials were everywhere on TV. And unfortunately, those commericals were as deceptive as they were ubiquitous. They said that rape survivors would have "options" under the ban, although the truth was that the only option was to take the emergency contraception pill after the assault and hope it was soon enough to prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place. They also said that the law protected women's health, when in reality the law only permitted abortion if the woman's life was threatened by her pregnancy. Those women whose health -- but not their lives -- were at risk would be left with no choice but to continue their pregnancies. Our canvassing and phone-banking was as much about dispelling these inaccuracies as it was about encouraging people to get to the polls. I know the Campaign's strategy of reaching voters on an individual basis and telling them the truth about this dangerous and extreme law was the reason the ban was defeated' and I was proud to be part of it.

Lori:
The long stretch of road from Omaha to Sioux Falls, South Dakota provided plenty of time to wonder what the next few days would hold for us as we jumped into the end of the campaign to repeal an extreme and unforgiving ban on abortions for the women of South Dakota, women who are already left with few options in a state that has access to only one provider, one time a week. We arrived at the Campaign for Healthy Families headquarters on Main Street late Sunday night, welcomed by cheerful and tireless volunteers and staff, ready to enlist some new folks in the effort. With just two days left to get out the vote and inform South Dakotans of the effect of this draconian law, we started early Monday morning with a visibility event at a busy intersection in town. Covering all four corners of the intersection, we waved signs and chanted "No on 6" to the passerbys, many of whom honked in support. Encouraged and motivated by a sense of urgency, we spent the day canvassing, knocking on doors to talk to people about the importance of voting on Tuesday, and encouraging voters to repeal the abortion law that did not allow exceptions for victims or rape or incest, or if a woman's health was in danger. When the results came in late Tuesday night, we knew that we had been a small part of an incredibly important effort. I am so happy that South Dakotans voted for women's health and against Referred Law 6.

Dawn:
The trip to South Dakota was tremendously inspiring. The weekend before Election Day, more than a hundred people from across the United States joined native South Dakotans to protect women from the brutally punitive abortion ban. There were men and women, college students and lifelong activists. Some had been on the front lines of this fight for decades; others had recently become pro-choice in spite of their cultural or religious backgrounds. Together, we knocked on doors, dialed phones and held 'No on 6!' signs on street corners for the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. The days leading up to the election in South Dakota were proof that, as the saying goes, a few dedicated people can change the world. The small group of Healthy Families organizers had worked for months to lay the groundwork for victory, countering rampant misinformation and massive financial resources on the other side. With the support of the ACLU, the volunteers pushed the effort over the finish line. I came back to Chicago hopeful that everyday people can indeed win the fight for reproductive justice in the United States.