South Dakota Abortion Bills Clear State House Committee 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 9, 2005
Pierre, SD (LifeNews.com) — A bill that would require the state’s lone abortion facility in Sioux Falls to give women information on abortion’s risks and dangers prior to the abortion procedure cleared a state House committee on Wednesday.
Members of the House State Affairs Committee voted unanimously in favor of the bill.
Rep. Roger Hunt, a Republican, sponsored the bill and said he hopes women are able to learn about the risks associated with an abortion before having one.
According to an Associated Press report, several women who had abortions and regretted their decisions spoke in front of the committee. They said they wished they had additional information, which may have caused them to rethink their decision.
Similar Right to Know bills in other states have been effective in reducing the number of abortions by about one-third.
"The abortion was not liberating, it was enslavement," said Carol Kling of Lemmon, who had an abortion at age 16. "If I had known the truth, I would have never had the abortion."
According to the AP report, Kate Looby, state director of Planned Parenthood, claimed the bill was unconstitutional. Hunt, an attorney, says he wrote the bill to withstand a legal challenge.
The committee also unanimously approved a bill that would create a task force to study abortion in the state.
Another bill not considered will deal with parental notification.
Current state law requires parents to be notified in writing at least 48 hours prior to the abortion procedure on a teenager. The new legislation would tighten the requirements necessary for a judge to approve an abortion in an emergency situation so it doesn’t become a rubber stamp process.
A final bill would make abortions illegal in South Dakota should the Supreme Court ever reverse itself on Roe v. Wade.
Related web sites:
South Dakota Right to Life – https://www.sdrl.org
