Update: Cecilia Fire Thunder Suspended

A few months ago, we reported that Cecilia Fire Thunder planned to establish a family planning clinic on the land of the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation, where the state’s abortion ban would have no jurisdiction. We asked, “Could this bring down the law that would bring down Roe?”

No, but it did bring down President Fire Thunder.

The Oglala Sioux tribal council banned all abortions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and suspended President Cecelia Fire Thunder on Tuesday, charging that she solicited donations on behalf of the tribe for a proposed abortion clinic without the council’s approval.

Nestor Ramos, Tribal council outlaws abortion, Argus Leader, May 31, 2006.

Ensuring the rights of all women means we have to recognize that the oppression of women intersects with, and is perpetuated by, other forms of oppression: racism, poverty, fundamentalism, and so on. We need to keep finding ways to come together across this sh*t, to lend one another support, and to figure out ways to cope when women’s solidarity generates backlash.

Bitch Ph.D., Still More on Cecilia Fire Thunder, May 31, 2006.