In the wake of South Dakota's passage of a ban on abortions, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cecelia Fire Thunder, has suggested that the tribe might open a clinic that would provide abortions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. That could raise some interesting issues.

If a tribe can have a casino, why not a clinic that performs abortions? Various legal experts have said that a clinic on Indian land might not be subject to the state law, especially if doctors were Indians. South Dakota's Rapid City Journal offers a more complete account of the story.

According to the Journal, "Fire Thunder has worked as a licensed practical nurse, and she has helped set up community health clinics in Los Angeles. She said the tribe could set up its own clinic. 'If we choose to do this, we can.'"

And if the PIne Ridge Oglala Sioux can do it, why can't tribes all over the country?