South Dakota Legislation Makes Abortions Illegal

By Linda Orlando

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday that will make it a crime for doctors in the state to perform an abortion unless the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother. The law is scheduled to take effect on July 1, but Rounds issued a statement saying that he expects the law will be tied up in court for years and probably will eventually require a ruling by the Supreme Court.

The state legislature approved the bill on February 24, in the first direct legal assault on the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the bill. According to the wording of the bill, the legislature relied heavily upon the conclusions of the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion in considering the proposal. Written materials, scientific studies, and testimony of witnesses presented to the task force convinced legislators that "life begins at the time of conception, a conclusion confirmed by scientific advances since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, including the fact that each human being is totally unique immediately at fertilization." The bill goes on to say, "The Legislature finds that the guarantee of due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings, and that under the Constitution of South Dakota, a pregnant mother and her child, each possess a natural and inalienable right to life."

Rounds echoed the intent of the bill in his statement to the media. "In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them," Rounds said in the statement.

The bill would make no exception in cases of rape or incest. Krista Heeren-Graber, executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, said that if a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape, the rapist would have the same legal rights to the child as the mother does. "The idea that the rapist could be in the child’s life…makes the woman very, very fearful," said Heeren-Graber. "Sometimes they need to have a choice." Planned Parenthood, which operates the state’s only abortion clinic, has pledged to challenge the measure in court. Their clinic performs about 800 abortions each year, and the group says that other women living in South Dakota cross state lines to go to clinics closer to them.

If the bill becomes law, any doctor violating the law will be charged with a Class 5 felony.