House Bill 1178

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports House Bill 1178, which will prohibit the use of state-owned facilities or public moneys to support or facilitate obscene live conduct at public universities under the control of the Board of Regents. Public authorities should work to uphold morality, rather than undermining it by Read more…

House Bill 1217

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports House Bill 1217, a bill that would give county and municipal governments the ability to restrict or prohibit the placement of video lottery machines within the boundaries of a local jurisdiction. While games of chance are not intrinsically evil or unjust, gambling becomes morally Read more…

Senate Bill 216

The South Dakota Catholic Conference opposes Senate Bill 216, which would permit medical providers to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to minors, for the purpose of making an individual appear to be a sex that is not consistent with his or her biological sex. SB 216 would partially repeal Read more…

Senate Bill 210

The South Dakota Catholic Conference opposes Senate Bill 210, which proposes to legalize abortion throughout pregnancy and repeal most of the pro-life laws enacted in South Dakota during the last several decades. In the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (62), St. Pope John Paul II stated: “…direct abortion… always constitutes a grave Read more…

House Bill 1257

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports passage of House Bill 1257, a measure that would require websites containing material harmful to minors to implement age verification procedures to prevent access by those under the age of 18. The Church teaches that pornography “does grave injury to the dignity of its Read more…

House Bill 1150

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports House Bill 1150, which would allow local governments to exercise control over the presence and operation of commercial medical marijuana establishments within their jurisdictions. The Church teaches, “The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on Read more…

Senate Bill 192

The South Dakota Catholic Conference opposes passage of Senate Bill 192, a bill that would double the amount of money that can be spent on a video lottery machine game, from two dollars to four dollars, and increase the award amount per bet from $1,000 to $2,000. While games of Read more…

Senate Bill 109

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports passage of Senate Bill 109, legislation that proposes a provisional repeal of the death penalty. In his landmark encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), St. Pope John Paul II explained the Church’s teaching on criminal punishments: “Public authority must redress the violation of Read more…

House Concurrent Resolution 6008

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports House Concurrent Resolution 6008, a measure that expresses the legislature’s opposition to an initiated measure that would add a “right to abortion” to the state constitution of South Dakota. HCR 6008 recognizes that the right to life is the “most basic and fundamental right”, Read more…

Senate Bill 72

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 72, a measure to raise the cap on South Dakota’s tax-credit K-12 scholarship program to $5 million. The program is currently capped at $3.5 million. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught, “Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and Read more…

F&P Episode 115: South Dakota’s Pivotal Moment on Abortion

South Dakota’s 2023 legislative session marked the first time that state lawmakers had gathered since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its June 24, 2022 decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and restored to the states the ability to set their own public policy on abortion. Host Michael Pauley is joined by Dale Bartscher, the Executive Director of South Dakota Right to Life, for a discussion on how state lawmakers responded to the Dobbs decision, and how South Dakota’s pro-life community is responding to a citizen-initiated amendment that proposes to create an unlimited right to abortion in the state constitution.

F&P Episode 114: Obscenity and the First Amendment

During the 2023 legislative session, South Dakota lawmakers introduced five different bills that sought to regulate the spread of obscenity, especially by limiting the access of minors to harmful materials. Despite a growing public awareness of the harms caused by obscene material and programs, not one of the anti-obscenity bills made it through the legislature. Michael Pauley is joined by Norman Woods of the South Dakota Family Heritage Alliance to discuss the debate surrounding obscenity laws, the role of the courts and their interpretation of the First Amendment, and the surprising involvement of South Dakota’s public-school establishment in opposing anti-obscenity legislation.

F&P Episode 113: The abortion pill on trial

In the year 2000 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug mifepristone (also known as RU-486 or Mifeprex) as part of a regimen for chemically induced abortions. But on April 7, 2023—late on Good Friday—a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction that suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, pending a trial on the merits of the case. The preliminary injunction was partially reversed on appeal, but the judge’s opinion in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA casts a spotlight on the damage that mifepristone has caused to women and their preborn children. Host Michael Pauley is joined by Adam Schwend of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America to discuss the implications of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case, regarded by many legal experts as the most important abortion-related litigation since the Dobbs decision.

F&P Episode 112: Marijuana, addiction, and South Dakota’s future

In 2022 voters rejected a measure to legalize recreational marijuana in South Dakota. Yet in the 2023 session of the state legislature, a dozen bills were introduced related to marijuana, and in 2024 yet another ballot measure on marijuana is likely to come before voters. Why is this issue still so unsettled? To answer this question, host Michael Pauley is joined by Jim Kinyon, the Chairman of Protecting South Dakota Kids, and the Executive Director of Catholic Social Services in Rapid City. Jim and Mike discuss the ambitions of the marijuana industry in South Dakota, some troubling aspects of the state’s “medical marijuana” program, and why Catholics should care deeply about the effects that marijuana has on our society.

House Bill 1116

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports passage of HB 1116, which would prohibit the use of any state funding or state resources, including public school district resources, for promoting or hosting content that is lewd and lascivious. The bill defines “lewd and lascivious” as including obscene live conduct that appeals Read more…

House Joint Resolution 5006

The South Dakota Catholic Conference opposes House Joint Resolution 5006, which seeks to amend the state constitution to permit mobile sports betting throughout the state. The Catholic Church does not understand games of chance to be inherently wrong in every instance. However, very serious concerns arise in the context of Read more…

House Bill 1129

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports passage of HB 1129, which would establish certain safeguards in South Dakota’s medical marijuana program to protect patient safety and prevent abuses. The use of marijuana for medical purposes was legalized when voters approved Initiated Measure 26 in 2020. The Church teaches, “The use Read more…

Senate Concurrent Resolution 602

The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports passage of SCR 602, a legislative resolution that affirms support for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the high court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade and its creation of a national entitlement to abortion. Regarding Read more…