Leslee Unruh

Last updated
Leslee Unruh
Years active1984–present
Known for Anti-abortion advocacy
SpouseAllen Unruh

Leslee Unruh is an American anti-abortion advocate and public speaker. Since 1983, she has been active in the anti-abortion movement and abstinence-until-marriage movement, with organizations based in South Dakota. She has been vocal in state and national government, previously serving as executive director to the VoteYesForLife.com campaign. [1]

Contents

Organizations

Omega Maternity Home

In 1983, Leslee Unruh founded the Omega Maternity Home in Sioux Falls, SD. Omega Maternity Home provided a “home environment that encourages these young women to set goals for their lives and learn to become independent” as well as giving “the tools to survive and develop so they will not need to rely on welfare programs.” [2] A licensed social worker was on staff, available to provide counseling and aftercare programs for the women. [3] The maternity home was run on private donations. Omega Maternity Home was open until 1994.

National Abstinence Clearinghouse

In 1996, she founded the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, a non-profit based in Sioux Falls, SD. The Clearinghouse serves as a resource center, providing information on abstinence until marriage programs. [4] The organization grew rapidly after a federal government grant of $50 million for abstinence programs split between organizations. Its first conference was organized in 1998 in Minneapolis, MN. [5] Unruh has talked about the activities of National Abstinence Clearinghouse on The Oprah Winfrey Show and PBS. [6] [7]

Alpha Center

The Alpha Center is a pregnancy help center in Sioux Falls that provides pregnancy testing, STD testing, ultrasounds, and counselling for pregnant women. [8]

Politics

In March 2006, Unruh was a key lobbyist supporting the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act in South Dakota, which banned abortion in almost any circumstances, including those where the pregnancy threatened the woman's health and life. Eight months later it was overturned by South Dakota's voters in a referendum. An amended version of the bill, with exceptions for rape, incest, and maternal health, was scheduled for a new vote in 2008. The amended was seen by all sides as the vehicle for a potential challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court. [9]

Unruh's "informed consent" law requires South Dakota doctors to tell patients that abortion can cause depression and sterility, among other side-effects. Initially found to be unconstitutional, [ when? ] this law resurfaced in June 2008 when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned. [10] A lower court's ruling blocked enforcement of the law; as of 2009, the case was back in district court. Unruh's activism garnered South Dakota $200 million in federal funding to be spent teaching abstinence outside of marriage to public school students. [11]

Unruh is a prominent donor to Republican candidates. [12]

Views

Unruh does not support contraception. [13] Unruh has spoken in favor of purity balls. [14]

Recognition

For her efforts in South Dakota, Unruh was awarded the 2006 Malachi Award by Operation Save America, a Christian organization. [15]

Related Research Articles

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many abortion laws, and caused an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. The decision also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion in the United States</span> Termination of a pregnancy in the United States

Abortion is a divisive issue in the United States. The issue of abortion is prevalent in American politics and culture wars, though a majority of Americans support continued access to abortion. There are widely different abortion laws depending on state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisis pregnancy center</span> Organization that persuades pregnant women against having abortions

A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion groups primarily to persuade pregnant women not to have an abortion. In the United States, CPCs that qualify as medical clinics may also provide pregnancy testing, sonograms, and other services, while many others operate without medical licensing under varying degrees of regulation.

<i>Argus Leader</i> Newspaper published in South Dakota

The Argus Leader is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is the largest newspaper by total circulation in South Dakota.

The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act was a state law passed by the South Dakota State Legislature in early 2006. It emerged as an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade via enacting a ban on abortion in the state of South Dakota. The law was repealed by voter referendum on November 7, 2006.

The timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms, as well as other formal changes (e.g. reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents). The right to vote is exempted from the timeline: for that right, see Timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline excludes ideological changes and events within feminism and antifeminism; for that, see Timeline of feminism.

This is a timeline of reproductive rights legislation, a chronological list of laws and legal decisions affecting human reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are a sub-set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproduction and reproductive health. These rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Reproductive rights may also include the right to receive education about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, and freedom from coerced sterilization, abortion, and contraception, and protection from practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law in the United States by state</span> Termination of pregnancy in states of the United States

The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions, others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while others allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.

Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy, often performed in the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion without excessive government restriction, and in 1992 the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey invalidated restrictions that create an undue burden on people seeking abortions. Since then, there has continued to be an abortion debate in the United States, and some states have passed laws in the form of regulation of abortions but which have the purpose or effect of restricting its provision. The proponents of such laws argue they do not create an undue burden. Some state laws that impact the availability of abortions have been upheld by courts. In 2022, Roe and Casey were overturned by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, meaning that states may now regulate abortion in ways that were not previously permitted.

A six-week abortion ban, also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age, which is when proponents claim that a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected. Medical and reproductive health experts, including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, say that the reference to a fetal heartbeat is medically inaccurate and misleading because a conceptus is not called a fetus until eight weeks after fertilization, as well as that at four weeks after fertilization, the embryo has no heart, only a group of cells which will become a heart. Medical professionals advise that a true fetal heartbeat cannot be detected until around 17 to 20 weeks of gestation when the chambers of the heart have become sufficiently developed.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in South Dakota since June 26, 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry. Attorney General Marty Jackley issued a statement critical of the ruling but said South Dakota is obligated to comply and the state would recognize same-sex marriages.

The following timeline represents formal legal changes and reforms regarding women's rights in the United States except voting rights. It includes actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Ravnsborg</span> American attorney and politician

Jason Richard Ravnsborg is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the Republican primary to former Governor Mike Rounds, who won the general election.

Abortion in Idaho is illegal from fertilization. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, abortion in Idaho was criminalized by the trigger law which states that a person who performs an abortion may face two to five years of imprisonment. The ban allows exceptions for maternal health, rape and incest within the first trimester. The law took effect on August 25, 2022.

Abortion in North Dakota is illegal. The state's sole abortion clinic relocated to Minnesota.

Abortion in South Dakota is illegal. Anyone who induces an abortion is guilty of a Class 6 felony. An exception is included to "preserve the life of the pregnant female," given appropriate and reasonable medical judgment.

Abortion in Utah is legally performed under a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the state's trigger law, which bans abortion. According to HB136, which is effective state law from June 28, 2022, abortions are banned following 18 weeks of gestation. Abortion was banned following the Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022. Utah State Legislation enacted SB 174 in May 2020, which, upon the overturn of Roe v. Wade, made inducing an abortion a second-degree felony. The law includes exceptions for pregnancies "caused by rape or incest," pregnancies that put the mother's life at risk, or "if two doctors say the fetus has a lethal defect." Rape and incest exceptions will only be viable if the crimes were previously reported to law enforcement officials.

Abortion in Wisconsin has been legal since September 18, 2023, and is performed in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan through 22 weeks gestation. However, elective abortions in Wisconsin are under dispute after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 24, 2022. Abortion opponents cite an 1849 law that they claim bans the procedure in all cases except when the life of the mother is in danger. However, lower level courts have argued that the law only applies to infanticide and not consensual abortions. The enforceability of the law is disputed and being considered by the state courts. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that they would resume abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee on September 18, 2023. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin later announced that they would resume abortion services in Sheboygan on December 28, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Hansen</span> American attorney and legislator

Jon Hansen serves as a representative for the 25th Legislative District in the South Dakota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, and former Speaker pro tempore of the South Dakota House of Representatives.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), returning to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal statutory law.

References

  1. ↑ "Taking Sides Can Be Risky Business". Newspapers.com. Argus Leader. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Home Helps Women in Crisis Pregnancies". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Omega Maternity Home". Newspapers.com. Argus Leader.
  4. ↑ Lowy, Jean (October 18, 1999). "Congress set to double funding for say-no-to-sex programs". Greenville News. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "First national conference preaches abstinence". June 15, 1998. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  6. ↑ LaBoe, Barbara (October 13, 1999). "Rally promotes teen sex abstinence". The Montana Standard. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "NOW on PBS". IMDB. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  8. ↑ Todd, Nicole Ki and Annie. "Anti-abortion groups have worked to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now victorious, what's next?". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  9. ↑ "Amanda Robb's interviews with and about Leslee Unruh in April 2009". Archived from the original on Feb 8, 2010. Retrieved Jun 11, 2019.
  10. ↑ U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Case number 05-3093, opinion issued June 27, 2008. Available at "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2011-03-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Amanda Robb interviews, ibid". Archived from the original on Feb 8, 2010. Retrieved Jun 11, 2019.
  12. ↑ "As South Dakota campaigns launch, Thune mulls retirement". KELOLAND.com. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  13. ↑ Winter, Meaghan (2015-04-06). ""Save the Mother, Save the Baby": An Inside Look at a Pregnancy Center Conference". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  14. ↑ "Teen girls say \'I do\' to dad and \'no\' to sex - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  15. ↑ "Operation Rescue Announces 2006 Recipients of the Malachi Man and Woman of the Year Awards - Christian Newswire". www.christiannewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved Jun 11, 2019.
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