September 5, 2018 – For Immediate Release
The Board of Directors of South Dakota Right to Life (SDRTL) are pleased to announce the election of Dale Bartscher as their Executive Director. A native of Mitchell, South Dakota, Mr. Bartscher is known and respected throughout the state and beyond as a tireless and visionary leader, and a passionate advocate for biblical influence in the public square. Mr. Bartscher will assume the role of SDRTL’s Executive Director on September 16.
“We’re grateful and excited to have Dale take the helm. He brings a wealth of leadership and lobbying experience to help Right to Life further our work of saving lives,” Fred Deutsch, SDRTL’s Board President, noted.
A graduate of Dakota Bible College and Cincinnati Christian Seminary, Mr. Bartscher served for many years as a pastor in Minnesota and South Dakota. After some eleven years as a Senior Pastor in Rapid City, he served three years as West River Director for the South Dakota Family Policy Council. In 2010, he was named founding Executive Director of the Family Heritage Alliance, which grew into one of the state’s most effective Christian public policy organizations.
For the last year, Mr. Bartscher has served South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley as State Political Director of his gubernatorial campaign. On working with Dale, Mr. Jackley commented, “I witnessed first-hand his honesty, dedication, and ability to address complex challenges.” “Working with Dale,” he went on to say, “has always inspired me to work harder and to be a better person.”
Dale is married to Jan, his wife of 42 years. They have two daughters, a son-in-law and two amazing grandchildren of whom they are very proud.
South Dakota Right to Life is a non-profit public service organization. SDRTL’s primary purpose is to educate through the presentation of detailed and factual information about fetal development, abortion, alternatives to abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, assisted suicide and related issues, upon which individuals and the general public may make informed decisions.
For more information on South Dakota Right to Life, visit www.sdrighttolife.org
Dale is a force to be reckoned with. Great man. He will be excellent!
Congrats on a great hire RTL!
Congratulations and my personal best wishes to you, Dale. SDRTL has chosen well. Your skills, experience and energies will be a significant asset to the Right to Life cause. I look forward to working with you and the entire SDRTL staff on this most important life issue.
Don’t expect Dale to return the compliment, Ed. He’s done everything he can to harm Family Heritage Alliance. The man is petty, self-agrandizing, and vindictive.
Oi. No need for personal attacks. If you have a bone to pick with Dale, take it up with him. (and don’t remain anonymous then too)
What do you mean he has done everything he can to harm FHA?
What is SDRTL’s position on the death penalty? I’m honestly curious because their last paragraph says “fetal development, abortion, alternatives to abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, assisted suicide and related issues”. Is the death penalty one of those related issues?
Taking of an innocent life via abortion is completely different than the death penalty which punishes only those who have committed the most vile of crimes.
Oh I completely agree that it is different and I commend SDRTL’s efforts on abortion. But I am honestly just curious if they weigh-in on the death penalty or don’t take a position. It won’t change my opinion of them.
Terrible pick. South Dakota needs new blood and new ideas- the same old recycled people from losing campaigns.
When is the last time someone under the age of say 50 was appointed to something of consequence?
Didn’t Jackley also lose to the person Dale will have to lobby and pander to? Such an interesting pick… someone who’s openly critiqued the potential incoming governor.
I would agree that having worked for Jackley will be problematic for Dale to lobby Noem. Good thing she’s already pro-life.
Governor Noem will have no problem working with Dale. I know supporters hold grudges but candidates don’t or they don’t get passed primaries.
Wow- i don’t know where you’ve been since June- but we’re past the primary. And Dale can be easily locked out by staff after the general.
Which should rightly be done-
There’s a lot of hard feelings between Dale and Noem.
You really should follow SD politics closer. Dale gave Larry Rhoden’s nomination speech at the Republican Convention. There are no hard feelings between Team Noem and Dale. He is a perfect choice for this position.
It will be interesting to see how he handles the inevitable initiative or referendum to reinstate abortion after Roe is reversed.
4:31:
I must have not been clear. I’ll say it different.
Governor Noem will have no problem working with Dale. I know supporters hold grudges but candidates don’t. Candidates who hold grudges after primaries don’t win general elections.
Further, I have seen no evidence of Noem holding a grudge against anyone. If she is holding a grudge and it is pervasive, there will be no Governor Noem. Finally, if Governor Noem were to lock out natural allies, she will find it hard to govern and will ultimately be ineffective.
Dale is a great choice because he is committed to the cause of SDRTL, he is a solid man who has represented very competently all he has represented in the past, and he is competent and experienced with regard to both the Executive & Legislative branch.
Glad for Dale. He will work it hard, border to border and in Pierre.
SD RTL needs to join the many conservatives against the death penalty. I get bored when people try to tell us there is a difference between judicially guilty bloodshed and judicially innocent shed blood. I articulated that flawed position for years.
I changed my mind and many others have as well in SD. Either human life, all human life is sacred or it is not. A consistent human life ethic is that all human life is sacred; regardless of stage of development, or disability or deformity, or degree of dependence or level of depravity. Doing something inhumane doesn’t cause one to forfeit their humanity. It is about what we do, not what they did.
Conservatives against the death penalty nationwide have organized and are making a well reasoned case that the DP is not limited government, nor is it fiscally conservative.
If there are hard feelings between these two, the bigger person needs to reach out to the other and get it behind them. The unborn don’t deserve to be caught up in hurt feelings. I don’t give a rip how hard these feelings might be.
Troy, there are no hard feelings.
“Here’s the abortion bill, Mr. President“
“I told Michael Cohen to pay that!”
Fred,
I knew so. I was trying to make a point to those who do have hard feelings and hold grudges because I thought they may have been projecting their feelings on to those they supported. Personal feelings have no place when the causes are so important. Primaries are over. Now you move to the general. When the general is over, people should be thinking of governing. This perpetual tribalism at the lowest level is not what our forefathers envisioned.
Fred, Troy, neither of you know what you’re talking about. Rhoden and Bartscher have a good relationship; Noem and Bartscher do not.
Amen and preach to the choir!
Dale made his choice during the primary campaign.
I’ll not longer be supporting SDRTL.
# me too
Dale has enough sense to know that his personal feelings are not important. The people who really care about unborn children all set their own egos aside for the greater cause.
More worrisome are the narcissistic “true conservatives” who are so annoyed that they didn’t get their own way in the primary and at the convention that they are openly supporting the same candidates as Planned Parenthood. You can identify them from the lists of people who have liked and shared various Facebook posts. It’s turned into quite a list.
Anne,
I totally agree and have been essentially shell-shocked. I always thought when someone said they were Pro-Life it didn’t mean “unless I don’t like you.” Where in the world does that come from? It certainly doesn’t speak to integrity (the state of being whole and undivided) and submitting to causes greater than oneself.
It is glaringly obvious these people’s primary agenda is themself and “causes” are only to serve themself and not vice versa.
Hit send too early: The idea people who claim to be right to life would withdraw support because the executive director didn’t support their candidate in a primary is something I can’t even get my head around.
It is essentially saying: “Support my candidate or I’ll turn my head when defenseless human beings are being slaughtered. Do you want babies blood on your hands?” Beyond the pale.